We have a big vision for York IE: to reshape how startups are built, scaled and monetized.
Having a vision is easy. Realizing it is hard — and it takes consistent execution with a commitment to playing the long game.
We’ve been doing that since September 2019, when we launched our investment practice. With our team’s long history of angel investing, this was the logical place to start. Our syndicate model, with no management fees and deal-by-deal economics, enables us to create aligned incentives with our entrepreneurs. It also creates a faster, flexible and more transparent relationship for our investment partners.
So far it is working: Since launch we’re one of the most active investors in New England, having invested more than $11 million across 24 deals. More importantly, though, is the quality of companies we’ve invested in. Sometimes, when I look at the companies in our portfolio, I can’t stop smiling.
We learned quickly that for many startups, money is not the obstacle. They need help navigating the myriad of challenges they encounter trying to grow their business. The traditional options they can turn to for help are expensive, antiquated and ineffective. We knew there was a better way. So in June 2020, we took our second major step: launching our advisory services practice and making it available to any startup whether we are an investor or not. Our approach is simple: act as an extension of the operating team and drive value in all aspects: product and market strategy, business growth and go-to-market, marketing and communications.
So far it is working: Since launch we have helped more than 40 companies in a variety of ways from raising a Series A to being featured on Good Morning America to redefining an entire market category.
You typically won’t find investment and advisory services together in the same firm. But at York IE, adding value is our obsession. We want to make it as easy as possible to add value for as many companies as possible, in as many different ways as possible.
That’s why we’ve taken our third major step today: launching Fuel, a market and competitive intelligence platform that will continue to evolve into a true strategic growth platform. (We have a very exciting product roadmap!) To learn more about Fuel, check out our announcement.
Fuel allows every startup a self-serve, low-cost opportunity to access York IE’s growth help. While we are offering it to the general public today, we have been using it ourselves along the way to help us research and track our investments and service our advisory clients. It has been so valuable to us that we want to open it up publicly and provide that value to the startup community.
Our aim is for as many startups as possible to sign up and use all of Fuel’s data, insights and content to help them grow their companies. We anticipate many of these companies will want white glove advisory services help, which we will be happy to provide. And, as we get to know some of these companies, we hope we can also invest capital in them to additionally fuel their growth. Fuel is the foundational platform for all that we do.
York IE is one holistic flywheel with the aim of helping your startup grow. We’re not an investment firm that does other stuff on the side. We’re a scalable, growth-oriented business that invests. We’re entrepreneurs helping entrepreneurs. We’re operators helping operators.
There is a difference — and it’s one the entrepreneurs we work with understand and appreciate. Because that’s how they would do it, too.
