The Lehigh Valley Angel Investors network (LVAI) has announced that it has made three investments in 2015 totaling $360,000, which brings the total invested to $1,125,000 during its five-year history.

Its recruitment drive has also been successful. The organization has increased its angel investor roster to 37 members.

LVAI was founded in 2010 by a small group of successful entrepreneurs. The present President, Stuart Schooley, founder and co-owner of Dutch Springs, said, “The Lehigh Valley Angel Investors share a ‘pay it forward’ philosophy that drives them to help new entrepreneurs raise the start-up capital they need to forge a successful company.

“Many of us are entrepreneurs that built companies from the ground up,” said Schooley. “Now, we are interested in supporting like-minded people. Somewhere along the way, someone helped us and we want to return the favor.

“We are striving to increase our membership to 40-plus members. 2015 has been a very rewarding year for attracting new members and we hope to continue that trend during 2016.”

Members must be accredited investors as defined by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, having at least $1 million in net worth excluding the value of their homes, or $200,000 in annual earnings for the last two years for an individual and $300,000 for a husband and wife.

According to Schooley, LVAI meets monthly to hear presentations from start-up applicants and each member decides individually if he or she wants to invest in that company. Individual investments are a minimum of $5,000 per investor per deal, and total network investments generally start at $50,000.

LVAI is associated with the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania as an Affiliate Member of Ben Franklin TechVentures, BFTP-NEP’s award-winning business incubator-post-incubator facility on the Mountaintop Campus of Lehigh University, Bethlehem. Members meet at TechVentures to hear entrepreneur presentations.

“Hosting the Lehigh Valley Angel Investors Network ties in with Ben Franklin’s mission to help our tech-based early-stage clients identify and raise follow-on funding,” said Wayne Barz, manager of entrepreneurial services at Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania.”

LVAI 2015 Investments included:

Kinderpharm, LLC, supports companies in pediatric development as they deal with pediatric legislation in the United States and Europe. Kinderpharm offers support in developing new drugs for pediatric disease, ranging from pediatric clinical pharmacology to give orientation in financial, regulatory, clinical and other challenges.

Netrepid, LLC, founded in 2004, is a service-disabled veteran-owned company that owns and operates a data center in Harrisburg. Netrepid provides subscription-based technology solutions ranging from hosted virtual desktops and IT services to fully implemented cloud services. Netrepid provides services for a variety of industries, including health care, financial, education and government.

TenantRex is a cloud-based platform for brokerage houses that standardizes and aggregates raw deal data so brokers and researchers have instant access to make decisions. They have helping the largest brokerage firms in the U.S. convert their spreadsheets into market intelligence and are now taking their service to the broader commercial real estate market.

To join the Lehigh Valley Angel Investors Network, contact Dan Loikits danl@loikits.com, 610-428-1579.

Entrepreneurs interested in applying for funding from the network may go to: lehighvalleyangelinvestors.com.