Change is Coming to B2B Technology

While the technology sector experiences almost continuous disruption, there are still several areas within B2B technology that have been ignored, lagging the consumer market broadly in terms of mobile adoption, cloud-enabled services and the Internet of Things, among others. With this ongoing shift, however, comes significant opportunity for entrepreneurs, innovators and investors. We see significant opportunities in long-standing, regulated B2B sectors such as financial services, healthcare, and government services where new technologies can reduce the process costs associated with regulation.

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iSelect Portfolio Companies

iSelect focuses on early-stage b2b technology companies that are poised to help push the next b2b technology revolution forward. We deliberately invest in companies that can make a positive impact on our society, as well as on the bottom line.

Meet Our Selection Committee

Our B2B Technology Selection Committee consists of industry and subject matter experts who help guide iSelect’s investment decisions. With firsthand experience and a true pulse on the industry, we consider these individuals key to our success in finding and investing in innovation.

Dr. Rutter is founder and CEO of Metaphase Design Group, a design firm serving industrial, commercial and consumer product and packaging clients internationally. He is an acknowledged specialist in ergonomic product design and a leading…

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Brian Fielding has over 30 years experience as an attorney, business executive, and consultant in digital media, broadcasting, technology and licensing. He was on the senior leadership team for 15 years at Audible.com, during its…

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Michael Nichols, Ph.D. presently serves as an investor and C level management for various startups. He serves as an Analyst for Vinlogx, a platform that acquires, stores, and analyses internal vehicle information enabling solutions across…

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Co-founder & CEO of LaserBand from January 2001 through July 2012, Sanjay led the sale of the company to Zebra Technologies Inc. From 1996 to 2001, he was founder, Chairman and CEO of WorkNet Communications,…

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As Managing Director of the Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, Ken has led the Center to become a top-five ranked university in entrepreneurship and innovation offering over 80 entrepreneurial courses and numerous co-curricular programs that connect…

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With 30+ years of experience in the software industry as a CEO and Angel Investor. Hal founded, served as CEO and ultimately sold two successful software businesses, Gentry Systems and GridLogix. He is currently a partner…

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An accomplished senior executive with start-ups, growth, and turn-around organizations, Renato developed a healthcare technology corporation, HealthTech Solutions, from a small start-up of 3 people to a national provider of technical solutions to health care…

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Join Our B2B Technology Innovation Network

Join the thousands of entrepreneurs, investors, and industry professionals driving the future of b2b technology.

Resources & News

PopBookings Raises $1 Million in Oversubscribed Funding Round

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 6, 2017 Contact: Erika Klotz PopBookings (312) 722-6422 hello@popbookings.com PopBookings Raises $1 Million in Oversubscribed Funding Round Capital Will Support New Product Development and Further International Expansion KANSAS CITY, MO –...

College Grads Aren’t Fitting Into the Job Market, and Here’s Why

First, the good news: Corporations are on track to hire more recent college grads this year -- up 5% versus last year, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers -- making 2017 the eighth year in a row that companies have increased their...

FairWords: Automating Compliance for Enterprise Communications

The term “Information Age” is generally associated with the rise of the personal computer in the 1980s and the World Wide Web in the 1990s, as human history shifted from the era of industrialization to the modern age in which information and communications are the...

PopBookings: New Tools to Revolutionize Temporary Staffing

The U.S. labor market is changing, with more and more jobs becoming temporary or on-demand. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 27 million people are currently employed on a part-time basis, with temporary placements representing the fastest-growing...

PopBookings Goes International, Bringing Its Industry-Leading Technology to the Global Events Market

PopBookings, the event staffing software that streamlines talent coordination for promotional models, brand ambassadors, street teams, bartenders, and more, is pleased to announce its expansion into the European market with its first services for clients in the U.K.

Tech ≠ Silicon Valley

These days it seems everyone has an opinion on the tech industry. One minute investors can’t get enough of high-flying unicorns; the next, it’s batten down the hatches folks, winter is coming. High profile investors are sounding the alarm: too much money is chasing...

The Midwest Isn’t the New Silicon Valley – It’s Our Fault

Last month, VentureBeat published an article that got a lot of attention here in St. Louis and, I assume, started more than a few conversations out in the Bay Area. Entitled “In 5 Years the Midwest Will Have More Startups Than Silicon Valley,” it was written by Chris...

Clean/Cheap Energy: Boosting Real Estate Net Asset Value

Let’s say you’re the CFO of a REIT managing 20 million square feet of commercial floorspace. Chances are you’re paying $2.35 per square foot in utility expense, roughly $47 million annually. If you knew you could reliably cut 30% of this expense, adding $14 million...

iSelect Adds New Portfolio Company: Bractlet

Bractlet – The Cutting Edge of Energy Insight Alec Manfre, CEO and Co-Founder Matthew Lynch, CPO and Co-Founder Brian Smith, CTO and Co-Founder Talk about your “movers and shakers.” The three founders of Bractlet know a thing or two about moving and shaking up the...

Consideration

With 2021 well underway and with public markets still strong, we think it is an important time to highlight some of the key private market, venture investment themes that iSelect fund has identified for the year. We believe technologies transforming the Agriculture, Food and Wellness markets will flourish, with a focus on four areas: technologies that enable better food choices to drive better health outcomes, technologies that drive better, more profitable farm operations, technologies that drive the Consumerization of Healthcare, and biome-based treatment technologies. At iSelect, we invest for impact AND performance. We offer qualified investors access to emerging growth companies through our national venture capital strategy. Our unique structure allows our investors to continue to invest in these companies as they develop.

Timing

Why is now the right time for venture? The answer is that now is not explicitly the right time. Venture is something we need in our economy at all times. Now is not better than any other particular time. The question is, why ever stop? When we look at the challenges we’re facing in food and healthcare the reality is there is someone, somewhere who has an insight about how to build a product that will solve those problems. And if they put the right resources to it, they will succeed. As long as we need new technology to make life better or make our lives more enjoyable, we need venture capital to help fuel those entrepreneurs.

What is iSelect as a product?

iSelect is a very unique product, but when you break it into its parts it’s fairly easy to understand. On the front end we’re a traditional venture capital fund. We have a diligence process. We have an investment process. We have categories of industries where we have focus and real expertise, and we invest in companies in those areas that meet requirements for the fund. On the back end we’re unique in that we don’t raise a large amount of capital at one time and deploy it over the life of our fund. Each deal that we bring onto the fund, our investors have to prove and determine to invest in that deal. We have to constantly prove our diligence standards. It’s accessible, transparent and easy for investors to come in and see our comprehensive process.

What is the ideal iSelect company?

We are looking for founders that are passionate and we want the problem they’re trying to solve to be big, real, and painful. We want the solution to be revolutionary and we want our capital to be able to help them solve that problem. We want to know that they have customers involved and that the solution they’ve come up with actually meets those customers’ and market needs. And we want the team to be capital efficient with the money they’re spending.

What does the ideal iSelect company look like?

We’re looking for a company that has an opportunity to have a 10x return to our investment or greater in a period of three to seven years. What excites us at iSelect are companies that are solving big problems. We want companies that are going to be the Monsantos of the future. Not just in the size and the scope, but the impact they have on people’s lives. We want to create positive impacts on people’s lives, so we invest in areas like agricultural production and areas like producing healthy foods for our kids. They are problems that impact real people’s lives on a daily basis. That’s what we’re trying to do at iSelect. We’re trying to solve the big problems out there. Find ways to bring capital to the entrepreneurs who are the real heroes out there getting up every morning, beating away at these things that are problems that you and me and everyone else faces in their everyday lives.

What is iSelect?

iSelect is a venture capital firm. What that means is we look at hundreds and hundreds of different companies and we apply tough diligence standards to each of them, looking at whether the team has a good plan for growing the business, whether the team is qualified and credible, and more. We do that to resolve the few who provide the best opportunities for investors. And then iSelect takes that smaller set of investments and goes to investors who are interested in venture capital and provides a way for them to invest in these companies, either individually or all at once. We co-invest alongside other venture capitalists. We source transactions through to an exit where the company would become public or get bought. And we manage that whole investment process on behalf of our investors.