• Founders’ team is ideally 2-3 people.

• At least one founder (i.e. 1/3 of founding team) is affiliated with Emory (student, faculty, staff, alumni). Active involvement of the Emory-Affiliated founder is required (evaluated case-by-case).

• The company has developed a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). There is evidence of traction of validation - e.g. an active or completed pilot program.

We primarily use early-stage finance instruments, such as:

• Convertible preferred stock

• SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity) notes

• Convertible notes

This flexibility helps support early-stage companies at a stage when valuations may be low or uncertain.

1. Initial Screening - Carried out by students from Goizueta Business School under supervision of Business School Staff.

2. Review by Investor Members - Network members review due diligence, financials, business model, team, traction, and Emory affiliation.

3. Pitch Event - Qualified companies pitch at our quarterly network meeting.

4. Member Voting & Commitments - Investor Members signal interest: if sufficient interest, we move to pooled investment.

When a deal is approved:

• We form a single-purpose vehicle (SPV) dedicated to that start-up.

• Members who commit capital pool resources into that SPV

• One Investor Member acts as Managing Member which means:

  • They handle SPV administration and legal paperwork.

  • In return, they receive a 10% profits interest (carry) in addition to their prorata investment return.

Each startup deal targets approximately $100,000 total, pooled from interested Investor Members. Individual member investments can vary depending on how many investors participate.

Please reach out to entrepreneurship@emory.edu‍ or info@dooleyangels.co