MENLO PARK, CA — (Marketwired) — 01/16/15 — Peter Relan (of YouWeb Incubator), announced today that his latest program for start-ups, 9Plus, will foster more start-ups in four big markets — Wearables, On-Demand Marketplaces, Mobile Commerce, and Internet of Things (IoT). The 9Plus program follows on the heels of Relan–s success with YouWeb–s last program, which focused on mobile social gaming startups.
Through the 9Plus program, Relan plans to complete the final portion of the $7.5M raise in Q1, 2015 directly through larger accredited investors or through 9Plus– portfolio company , an online marketplace and brokerage platform for investing in private securities. Smaller accredited investors can access the raise at . A unique aspect of the 9Plus program is that, by investing in 9Plus, new investors will get exposure to the existing portfolio companies in the 9Plus program that have already been incubated. Visit to see existing portfolio companies.
Current investors in the 9Plus program includes a “who–s who” list of Silicon Valley super-angels including executives and directors from Charles Schwab, Google, Microsoft, Oracle, Yahoo, HP, RingCentral, NetApp and Bechtel.
To date, Relan–s startups have raised over $90 million in venture funding and have seen over $120 million in exits. YouWeb–s Mobile Social Gaming program has generated a 4.5X net cash-on-cash multiple for its investors and a >56% IRR, with two companies, CrowdStar and Epic, still building value for YouWeb–s investors.
“With our latest program we offer the longest — 9 months, well-funded, general purpose program and access to up to $650,000 in seed funding through our AngelList Syndicate,” said Relan. “We also believe that the longer incubation period, which we used so successfully in YouWeb–s Mobile Social Gaming program, will be even more important as our start-ups go after $100 billion market opportunities including the largest potential market of all: The Internet of Things.”
The 9Plus program is already backing several start-ups in these markets and is looking to foster more start-ups with the new fundraising round.
Markets and 9Plus Incubated Companies:
On-Demand Marketplaces (an estimated $170 billion market)
*Fosun Group-backed GotIt!, an On-Demand Marketplace
*SmartCloud, enabling services for safety monitoring for On-Demand Transportation
Internet of Things (a $3 trillion market)
*A stealth connected device start-up for the home, targeting 1 billion users
Wearables Market (a $100 billion market)
*Coffee, the first intelligent messenger for smart watches that offers an alternative to dictation into your watch
M-Commerce Market (a $500 billion market)
*OneFold, provides BigData Warehouse analytics for mobile apps and commerce
Gaming Market ($100 billion market)
*Benchmark-backed Hammer&Chisel, with its Editor–s Choice MOBA on iPads
*Gamoz Insta Poker for Poker Lead Generation
For Interested Accredited Investors
Accredited investors interested in a direct investment in Relan–s 9Plus program can email to further discuss this opportunity.
About Peter Relan, YouWeb Incubator and the 9Plus Program
Peter Relan–s passion is working with founders as a mentor and collaborator, with a team of executive level and hands-on resources. Peter started working with founders in 2007 in his incubator venture YouWeb. Before founding YouWeb, Peter was founder and CEO of Business Signatures and CTO of Webvan in addition to a host of roles spanning a 30 year career. 9Plus is the evolution of Peter–s successful approach, bringing in a larger support network for entrepreneurs.
YouWeb Incubator was founded in 2007 with a few super-angel investors, and sponsored several mobile social gaming companies from 2008-2012 including mobile social gaming network OpenFeint (acquired by GREE for $104 million), female mid-core gaming leader CrowdStar, crossplatform mobile development platform Spaceport (now at Facebook), Agawi, OpenKit, and Pluto Media.
The 9Plus incubation program, branded under the YouWeb umbrella, was started in 2012 with a wider set of investors and to broaden investment focus from gaming to new and larger market opportunities, and has raised $4.6 million to date. To learn more visit
About Venovate
Venovate Holdings, Inc. is the parent company of Venovate Marketplace, Inc., which provides smarter investment alternatives to institutions, accredited investors, and their advisors via an online experience. Venovate Marketplace is a member of FINRA and SIPC, and is a SEC Registered Alternative Trading System.
*Sources:
IDC:
Cowen:
Goldman Sachs:
Gartner:
[* This investment opportunity and verification is intended for “U.S. persons” only (as defined in Rule 902(k) promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended). The contents of this press release and related materials do not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of interest to purchase any securities or investment advisory services in any country or jurisdiction in which such offer or solicitation is not permitted by law. For purposes of such Rule 902(k), “U.S. person” means:
Any partnership or corporation if:
The following are not “U.S. persons”:
Any trust of which any professional fiduciary acting as trustee is a U.S. person, if a trustee who is not a U.S. person has sole or shared investment discretion with respect to the trust assets, and no beneficiary of the trust (and no settlor if the trust is revocable) is a U.S. person;
An employee benefit plan established and administered in accordance with the law of a country other than the United States and customary practices and documentation of such country;
Any agency or branch of a U.S. person located outside the United States if:
The International Monetary Fund, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the African Development Bank, the United Nations, and their agencies, affiliates and pension plans, and any other similar international organizations, their agencies, affiliates and pension plans.]
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MEDIA CONTACT
Peter Brooks
9Plus
415-425-4225
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