1. Application
Companies meeting the selection criteria and wishing to present to E8 begin with an online application through Dealum, the tool we use for managing deal flow. This creates a deal room where all communication and information about your application can be housed and tracked.
E8’s application requests information about the environmental problem, your solution, target market, characterization of your competitive advantage, sales and marketing strategy, revenue model, leadership team capabilities, financial projections, and exit strategy. We also require that applicants upload a pitch deck.
2. Screening
Each month from September to June (excluding December), new applications are reviewed by our Screening Committee, a group of approximately one dozen members who rate and discuss the applications. Consideration is based entirely on the information provided in the online application, so be sure to include anything the committee may find relevant and compelling.
The committee then selects three companies monthly to present at our membership meeting, which takes place a few weeks after the Screening Committee meeting.
3. Guide
Companies selected to present to the full membership are offered a ‘guide’ to answer questions about E8 and to provide feedback on their presentations.
4. Membership Meeting Presentation
This meeting is the first exposure selected companies have to the full E8 membership. The online event is typically on a Thursday at midday Pacific Time. Entrepreneurs are provided 10 minutes to present their pitch decks and their investment opportunities, followed by 10 minutes to answer questions from the audience. Questions are solicited and curated using an online tool for audience interaction, and are visible to the entrepreneur. At the end of each pitch slot, members indicate, via a confidential poll, their interest in learning more about a company at a follow-on meeting.
5. Follow on Meeting
If there is sufficient interest, E8 will organize a 40-minute online follow-on meeting, typically held the Thursday the week following the member meeting. The follow-on meeting determines whether there is sufficient interest from our members to form a Due Diligence team.
In advance of this meeting, E8 will provide the entrepreneur a list of questions that were drawn from internal discussion following their presentation. This is a chance for the entrepreneur to cover critical areas in more depth, and to participate in a robust discussion with E8 members. The entrepreneur is welcome to invite other meeting participants who can discuss the product or technology, the market, and the business strategy.
6. Due Diligence
After the Follow On Meeting, another internal poll is taken by members to determine whether there is enough collective interest to move on to Due Diligence. If sufficient interest exists, members interested in a particular company join forces to conduct comprehensive due diligence.
E8 understands that due diligence places a burden on the entrepreneur and works to ensure that the process is completed as quickly as possible, with the average time approximately 6 weeks, and a definite decision at the end. If there is not enough collective interest to form a full diligence team, individual member investors are still able to contact the entrepreneur directly and invest.
Some decisions will not offer funding, but will identify technology or business milestones, which if reached, would prompt reconsideration. Regardless of outcome, the diligence team will provide the entrepreneur with a summary due diligence report.
7. Final Documents and Closing
Upon successful conclusion of the due diligence process, investors make individual investment decisions and work together to finalize closing documents.
Because E8 is a membership organization of angel investors, and not a fund, any investments made are directly from the member to the company. However, members occasionally collaborate on creating an SPV to aggregate their investment under one vehicle.