The Team

2018

Investors & Mentors

Valerie S. Gaydos

President | Capital Growth, Inc.

Valerie is an active angel investor and Founder of the Angel Venture Forum. She has been involved with many start-up companies in the areas of operational development and strategic planning for more than 20 years. She is the founder and president of Capital Growth, Inc. (CGI) which was founded in 1994 as a venture capital data and information publishing company. CGI currently specializes in business building and actively invests in early stage companies. She served as director of the Accelerator for the Commercialization of Technology at the Maryland Center For Entreprenuership which finds, funds and supports new uses for technologies originating in Federal labs, Universities and research institutions. From 2004-2007 Valerie served as President of the Pennsylvania Angel Network. She also served as director of the Pennsylvania Private Investors Forum from 2004-2010. She is a member of the Lancaster Pennsylvania Angel Network and Hivers & Strivers angel investor groups and served on the Policy Committee of the Angel Capital Association (ACA).

Valerie previously served as an Analyst for the Pennsylvania State Senate and worked for Senate leadership. She also served as Staff Assistant for Pennsylvania U.S. Senator H. John Heinz,III.

Valerie may be reached at 412.528.1360 or valeriegaydos

The Angel Venture Forum supports the Innovation Alliance

On September 27, 2013 the Innovation Alliance convened a group of leading American inventors, policymakers, academics, and experts to discuss the importance of preserving America's inventive culture. Here is one of the panels:

Invention, IP & Jobs - The Virtuous Cycle from Innovation Alliance on Vimeo.

Virtuous Cycle: The Role of Patents in Driving Investments in Innovation

Jeff Grainger, Managing Partner, The Foundry
F. Scott Kieff, Professor, George Washington University Law School
Valerie Gaydos, Founder, Angel Venture Forum
Lita Nelsen, Director of Technology Licensing, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Wesley Blakeslee, Executive Director, Johns Hopkins Technology Transfer Office
Moderated by: Bryan Lord, President & Founder, New Venture Advisors

The Team of Investors

The Angel Venture Forum is a consortium of active angel investors who understand what it is like to build and grow a company and the importance of making the right connections, especially early on in the process but which is precicely the time when it is often the most difficult. Many individuals involved int eh Forum have founded, built and sold their own companies and thus, provide their own time, risk and money to finance as well as build new start-up companies and other early stage businesses which possess high and fast growth potential, economic opportunity and job creation. If you are an active investor and wish to actively participate, please contact us. There are no membership dues. Each participant contributes what they can to support the mission of our collective interests.

The total list of unique investors that have participated as AVF screeners, attendees, investors and participants include the following:

(PA) 1st Capital Group, Inc.
(DC) Aberdeen Angel Group
(DC) Acceleprise
(VA) Active Angels
(VA) Amplifier Ventures
(MD) Angel Venture Forum
(MD) Baltimore Angels
(PA) Bay Street Investors
(MD) Blu Venture Investors, LLC
(VA) Blue Water Capital
(PA) BlueTree Allied Angels
(MD) Capital Growth Inc.
(VA) Catapult Consultants, LLC
(VA) Charlottesville Venture Group
(VA) CIT GAP Funds

(DC) City Credit Capital Group LTD
(VA) Clout Ventures
(DC) CoPilot Ventures
(PA) Credit Suisse
(VA) DC Arch Angels
(VA) DC New Horizons
(NJ) Delaware Crossing Investor Group
(MD) Dingman Center Angels

(MD) DreamIt Ventures

(NJ) Edison Venture Partners
(DC) Endeavor DC

(MD) Epidarex Capital

(MD) Escobar Group

(NY) Expansion
(MD) Faleiro
(DC) Fire Ring Holdings
(DC) FOCUS Investment Bankers
(DC) National Institutes of Health
(DC) Fortify.VC
(PA) Garber Fund
(PA) GE Commercial Finance
(NY) Golden Seeds
(PA) GoodCompany Group
(DC) Grotech Ventures
(NC) Harbor Island Partners
(MA) Harvard Univ.
(MD) Healthup, LLC

(VA) Hivers& Strivers
(DC) Hunter Wise Financial Group,LLC
(DC) IMPACT Ventures

(VA) India Innovation Fund

(DC) Inner Circle
(DC) International funding group
(VA) Inventors Network of the Capital Area
(VA) Keiretsu Forum
(PA) Key Bridge Partners
(MD) Keiretsu Forum
(MD) Lancaster Angel Network
(VA) Levin Funds
(MD) Life Science Angels
(MD) Liquid Capital Group
(PA) Lore and Opus 8

(VA) Market Share Capital

(MD) Maryland Venture Fund

(MD) Mentor Capital Partners
(PA) Mid-Atlantic Angel Group
(MD) Mindful Ventures
(VA) Minority Angel Investor Network
(MD) Montgomery County Dept. Eco. Dev.
(VA) Most Ventures
(VA) Neuberger Ventures
(DC) New Dominion Angels

(VA) New Markets Venture Partners

(VA) New Vantage Group

(MD) NextGen Angels
(NY) NY Angels

(VA) NJ Angels

(MD) Orange Knocks
(PA) Pennsylvania Angel Network

(PA) Private Investors Forum
(MD) Panacea Capital Advisors, Inc.
(DC) Potomac Redan Associates LLC
(PA) Private Investor's Forum

(PA) Rittenhouse Ventures

(PA) Robin Hood Ventures

(CA) Sand Hill Angels
(NY) Strategic Strategy Partners

(VA) TCP Venture Capital
(MD) Tech Stars
(NY) TF Investments (the Family Office)
(MD) TWJ Capital
(MD) U.S. Boston Capital
(VA) uAngels
(DC) V Revolution Inc
(MD) VenturePoint Partners
(DC) Vetted Capital
(VA Virginia Active Angel Network
(VA) DC Arch Angels
(DC) William James Foundation
(DE) yet2.com