1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Pamela York of Atasi Ventures (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: The best way to go about this segment is to talk about examples, so talk about two specific examples. 

Pamela York: Sugarlogix is one company that we invested in. They are based in the Bay area. The company develops milk sugars which are found in human breast milk. They add that to a formula.

About 80% of women in the United States are using a formula to feed their babies. Formulas are associated with serious health risks. Sugarlogix adds the key ingredient from breast milk into those products so that consumers get a healthier product. 

Sramana Mitra: For a venture like this, what do you want to see by way of validation to write a check?

Pamela York: We wanted to make sure that the market was there and that they had the right team to be able to address the market. Sugarlogix is pre-market and pre-commercialization. We looked at the factors that I mentioned earlier. We looked at the CEO of the company and evaluated her to see if she could build a team and move the company forward.

Another company that we invested in is called Astarte Medical. They have a much more mature set of founders. They have been venture capital investors before. They raised their own funds, invested in ten companies, and saw tremendous opportunities in the NICU which is the female intensive environment for premature babies.

They transformed their feeding protocols. These two women are experienced and understood what it takes to build companies, so that was an easy check to write once we validated the market opportunity.  

Sramana Mitra: How do these companies find you or come to you? What is the source of your deal flow?

Pamela York: Every company we’ve been investing in has been a referral from somebody in our network. In our network, we meet a lot of companies per year and we get referrals as a result.  

Sramana Mitra: That’s the way the industry works. What are the trends in the deal flow? What are you seeing?

Pamela York: We see a really broad spectrum of companies across different stages. 

Sramana Mitra: I’m talking about more technology trends. I always ask this trend question to people just to get a feel for what is happening in the pipeline. What is the thought process of the pipeline of entrepreneurs who are trying to raise money right now?

Pamela York: We are looking for companies in digital therapeutics, transitioning from pharmaceuticals to other means of healing from disease. We are seeing quite a bit in genomics and the microbiome. That’s a really important space for us. That’s a hard space to invest in because it’s so early. Food as a medicine is an important space for us as well. 

Sramana Mitra: Thank you for your time.

This segment is part 3 in the series : 1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Pamela York of Atasi Ventures
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