July 14, 2011 08:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time
Leading CEOs among notable investors in next-generation payments technology company
PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dynamics Inc., an innovator in next-generation payment cards and systems, today announced a partial list of its angel investors who participated in its Series A and Series B investment rounds. Dynamics launched its award-winning Card 2.0® technology last fall and its products are currently in consumer trials with several top multi-national payment card issuers.
“The caliber of our angel investors is a testament to the strength of the Dynamics opportunity and the informed belief in our ability to execute”
Many of Dynamics’ angel investors are founders and leaders of disruptive and dominant companies relevant to Dynamics’ business. In addition to financial support, Dynamics’ angel investors provide technical, strategic, legal, and business advice. The CEO-heavy investment group represents informed investments in Dynamics by skilled business leaders.
The angel group includes:
Joseph “Rod” Canion – Founder and CEO, Compaq Computer (1982-1991). In addition to holding the record for first-year sales by any company, Compaq was the fastest company in history to reach both the Fortune 500 and $1 billion in revenues.
Michael Holthouse – Michael worked in sales at Apollo Computer before founding Paranet, an information technologies company that Michael sold to Sprint in 1997 for $425MM. Michael is also the founder and Chairman of Prepared 4 Life, a non-profit internationally praised for the blockbuster entrepreneurial educational initiative Lemonade Day.
Jack M. Gill – Founder and Managing Member, Vanguard Ventures. Jack was the lead investor in companies such as Aldus, Digital Microwave, Pyramid Technology, EndoSonics, Mycogen, EndoTherapeutics, Macromedia, Network Appliance, LightSpeed (CISCO), Digital Island, Zip Realty, and Hansen Medical. Jack is also a member of the Harvard Medical School faculty and founder of Autolab, which was acquired by Spectra Physics.
Leo Linbeck III – President & CEO, Aquinas Companies, LLC. Leo grew Aquinas’ annual revenues from $40MM to $500MM. Leo serves as an adjunct professor in the Rice and Stanford MBA programs.
Thomas R. Mullen – President and CEO, Mercy Health Services (MHS), which most recently added a $400MM state of the art hospital building in Baltimore, MD. Under Tom’s leadership, MHS revenues have grown from $180MM to more than $523MM. Tom was recently named to the nation’s list of Top 100 Performance Leaders by Solucient.
Joseph F. Pinkerton – Founder & CEO, Clean Energy Labs. Joe was also the founder, CEO, & Chairman of Active Power (NASDAQ: ACPW), where Joe raised $45MM in venture capital before completing a $140MM IPO. Joe is a recipient of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award for central Texas.
Arthur A. Ciocca – Chairman, The Wine Group, Inc. – the third largest wine company in the United States by sales and volume.
Sean McDonald – President and CEO, Precision Therapeutics Inc. Sean also founded Automated Healthcare, which was sold to the McKesson Corporation in 1996 for $65MM.
Nancy Chang – Founder and CEO, Tanox, which was acquired by Genentech in 2007 for $919MM.
Terry M. Giles – Founder of Landmark Education Enterprises Incorporated, Medical Design Technology, Great Escapes, and Giles & O’Malley.
Kristopher Brown – Partner, Dechert LLP. Kristopher’s practice centers on private equity and venture capital transactions. Kris also advises on corporate and transactional matters for numerous financial and corporate strategic investors, as well as emerging growth companies.
Richard Inz – Assistant General Counsel, Purdue Pharma. Richard was previously a partner at the Fish & Neave Intellectual Property Group of Ropes & Gray LLP.
Alan Gordon – Corporate Counsel, Profectus BioSciences, Inc.
David N. Lambeth – David has been a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University since 1989. David earned his Ph.D. degree in Physics from MIT and worked with Eastman Kodak Laboratories and Control Data Corporation from 1973-1989. David served ten years on the Board of Directors of Intevac.
“I first met Jeff Mullen in 2009 when he was presenting Dynamics to the International Rice Business Plan Competition, which I helped judge,” said Rod Canion, founder of Compaq. “I believed then and there that Dynamics had the potential to revolutionize the payments space. After winning the $100,000 main prize, and personally investing in Dynamics, I have worked closely with Jeff and his team. Over the last two years, I have seen a payments and consumer technology powerhouse begin to mature in Dynamics – equipped with the right team, expertise, experience, leadership, and vision it needs to become an industry leader.”
“The caliber of our angel investors is a testament to the strength of the Dynamics opportunity and the informed belief in our ability to execute,” said Jeff Mullen, CEO of Dynamics. “Dynamics has grown from the mentorship of our angel investors – many of whom are founders and CEOs of successful technology companies. I look forward to continued advice and guidance from our angel group as Dynamics continues to advance the largest and oldest industry in the world – the financial industry.”
About Dynamics Inc.
Dynamics Inc. was founded and seeded in 2007 by Jeff Mullen, its President and CEO. Dynamics produces and manufactures intelligent powered cards such as advanced payment cards. Focused on introducing fast-cycle innovation to top card issuers, the company's first commercial application is the world's first fully card-programmable magnetic stripe for use in next-generation payment cards. The company has won many of the world's most prestigious international business plan competitions, including the Rice Business Plan Competition, Carnegie Mellon McGinnis Venture Competition and the University of San Francisco Business Plan Competition. The company won DEMOgod and the $1M People's Choice Award at DEMO Fall 2010 and Best of Show at FinovateFall 2010. In January, the company won Best in Show at the 2011 International CES for Personal Electronics. Dynamics has closed a $5.7M Series A round led by Adams Capital Management and a $35M Series B round led by Bain Capital Ventures. Dynamics is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pa. More information on the company, its technology and applications can be found at www.poweredcards.com.
