JumpStart NJ Angel Network partners with Westchester group

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A pair of Tri-State angel investment groups are joining forces to expand entrepreneurship across the region.

According to the partners, the alliance between JumpStart New Jersey Angel Network and the Westchester Angels, announced last week, will increase membership and provide new opportunities for angel investors and startups with increased deal flow.

The JumpStartNJ/Westchester Angels Strategic Alliance will increase deal pace, mentorships and capital for members of each group, and allow them to collaborate in investor meetings and on due diligence, the new partners said in their announcement.

“The JumpStart NJ/Westchester Angels Strategic Alliance partnership will accelerate deal flow significantly, raising more capital for startups across the Tri-State area,” said JumpStart New Jersey Angel Network Chairman Stephen Dyer. “Together, we can take an already impressive entrepreneurial landscape to the next level.”

According to the groups, JumpStart NJ members invested $1.7 million in eight companies last year, with two exits. Through September 2021, members invested more than $2 million in nine companies, with one exit this year producing a 17-times return on capital.

Out of Westchester, the companies called attention to “the fastest-growing fintech company in the U.S. and the fastest-growing software company in New York State,” Ocrolus, a New York City-based firm specializing in automated document analysis. Four years ago, Westchester Angels co-founder and Managing Director Sandy Wollman led the company’s seed round, in which five different angel groups invested $1 million.

In September, the partners said, Ocrolus announced its Series C round of $80 million for a post-money valuation of more than $500 million.

Investing in and beyond the Mid-Atlantic region, about one-third of JumpStart NJ Angel Network’s investments are based in the Garden State.