Stephen Hoey

IrishAngels is a Notre Dame inspired angel investing group for experienced operators, executives, and founders who want to invest thoughtfully in early-stage companies and stay meaningfully involved beyond the check. Our investors share a common foundation through the University of Notre Dame and a belief that early-stage investing works best when capital and community come together. We invest primarily at the seed stage across B2B and consumer technology, partnering closely with founders and co-investors we respect. Since 2012, IrishAngels has deployed over $65 million into more than 100 companies. More importantly, we’ve built an active, engaged community of over 250 angels who bring operating experience, pattern recognition, and long-term perspective to the companies we support. IrishAngels aims to be a trusted partner to founders and a credible co-investor to the broader venture ecosystem. Headquartered in Chicago, with members across the U.S.

Turnspire Capital Partners is a private investment firm focused on providing special situations solutions to the lower middle market in North America. Through corporate carve-outs, restructurings, or buyouts, Turnspires goal is to acquire high-quality businesses that have reached strategic, operational or financial inflection points and stand to benefit from our hands-on, operationally focused approach. We seek to create value by working with like-minded operating executives to drive sustainable improvements in controllable costs, margins and cash flow. Turnspire’s investment philosophy is predicated on creating value through operational improvements rather than financial leverage.  We strive to make each of our companies best-in-class in their respective industry niche, and then to grow the businesses through organic initiatives or strategic acquisitions. Turnspires Operating Executive Network is a unique platform where the firm leverages partnerships with successful executives that share our passion solving operating and strategic challenges in order to drive business transformation. Further information is available at www.turnspirecap.com.

Vertica is a software focused private equity firm, with equity check sizes ranging from $20M to $80M. The partnership has decades of experience, helping over 60 software businesses scale into market leaders. Vertica has a singular mission: invest in only a small number of great companies to provide them unique resources to accelerate growth.

IrishAngels is a Notre Dame inspired angel investing group for experienced operators, executives, and founders who want to invest thoughtfully in early-stage companies and stay meaningfully involved beyond the check. Our investors share a common foundation through the University of Notre Dame and a belief that early-stage investing works best when capital and community come together. We invest primarily at the seed stage across B2B and consumer technology, partnering closely with founders and co-investors we respect. Since 2012, IrishAngels has deployed over $65 million into more than 100 companies. More importantly, we’ve built an active, engaged community of over 250 angels who bring operating experience, pattern recognition, and long-term perspective to the companies we support. IrishAngels aims to be a trusted partner to founders and a credible co-investor to the broader venture ecosystem. Headquartered in Chicago, with members across the U.S.

KPS Capital Partners, LP is the manager of KPS Special Situations Funds, a family of private equity funds with approximately $21.8 billion of assets under management (as of June 30, 2024, pro forma for the recent acquisitions of Sport Group and Innomotics which closed on July 8, 2024 and October 1, 2024, respectively). For over three decades, the Partners of KPS have worked exclusively to realize significant capital appreciation by making controlling equity investments in manufacturing and industrial companies across a diverse array of industries, including basic materials, branded consumer, healthcare and luxury products, automotive parts, capital equipment and general manufacturing. KPS has completed over 110 controlling investments through seven institutional investment funds. KPS creates value for its investors by working constructively with talented management teams to make businesses better, and generates investment returns by structurally improving the strategic position, competitiveness and profitability of its portfolio companies, rather than primarily relying on financial leverage. The KPS Funds’ portfolio companies have aggregate annual revenues of approximately $21.6 billion, operate 245 manufacturing facilities in 26 countries, and have approximately 64,000 employees, directly and through joint ventures worldwide (as of June 30, 2024, pro forma for the recent acquisitions of Sport Group and Innomotics which closed on July 8, 2024 and October 1, 2024, respectively). KPS creates new companies to acquire assets or businesses from large corporations, businesses owned by families or entrepreneurs, and businesses presented for sale in connection with financial restructurings, including companies owned by former creditor groups. KPS then transforms these businesses into independent, world-class, industry-leading enterprises.