Left to right, Advisor David Franklin, President Matt Sferrazza, Board Member Trish Halamandaris, Executive Director Vinnie Shahzad, and Advisor Gloria Ko.
Bruin Angels educates alumni to engage with UCLA and propel Bruin entrepreneurship forward.
UCLA has a rich legacy of innovation, evidenced by groundbreaking achievements such as the invention of the internet and life-saving advancements like the nicotine patch, reverse osmosis water filtration, and the breast cancer treatment drug Herceptin. However, the journey from research project to successful startup and ultimately to unicorn status is arduous. Many promising companies with excellent core technology don’t succeed without the right support. This is where skilled angel investors and mentors can make a crucial difference. Bruin Angels aims to educate and prepare UCLA alumni to become those critical angel investors.
UCLA alumni are passionate about UCLA. They buy UCLA gear, they go to UCLA football games, and their kids go to UCLA. As their careers mature, many seek meaningful ways to give back to the UCLA community. Becoming a mentor or angel investor for a UCLA startup offers a powerful avenue for giving back, while also diversifying an individual’s investment portfolio – creating a true win-win scenario. The industry experience, professional networks, and capital provided by angel investors can be pivotal to a startup’s success. Bruin Angels strives to optimize these odds by training alumni to be effective angel investors and mentors for UCLA startups, fostering a virtuous cycle of Bruins supporting Bruins, creating more Bruins in positions to support other Bruins.
The challenge for alumni is navigating the vast and dynamic UCLA campus; the sheer volume of innovation makes it difficult to identify opportunities for engagement. Many alumni with demanding professional schedules lack the time for exploration. This can lead to alumni not finding the startups where they can have the greatest impact, creating suboptimal outcomes with increased potential for failure. Bruin Angels addresses this challenge by serving as a guide, matching startups with angel investors to facilitate the most impactful connections.
We invite you to connect with Bruin Angels if you are a founder seeking support or a friend of UCLA interested in embarking on your angel investing journey.
