Part 2: Advisors and advisory shares: 83(b) election, 409A valuation, vesting, termination and technical/legal side of things

Frequently asked questions about startup advisory shares, including the appropriate amount of equity to give, the best form of agreement, the difference between stock options and restricted stock agreement (RSA), vesting schedule, and more. 

Tax implications for angel investors in the U.S.

An in-depth guide to understanding tax on angel investments in the US. Learn about different types of income, taxes, and the unique tax benefits for angel investors. Discover how investing directly in a C-corp or joining a syndicate can affect your tax situation. Get insights on key tax provisions like Section 1202, Section 1045, and Section 1244, and explore the importance of accurate record-keeping.

How to Incorporate a Startup in the US from Anywhere

A comprehensive guide to incorporate your startup in the US from anywhere. Find out which legal entity to choose, where to incorporate, and which platforms and tools to use. Discover pre-incorporation considerations and get answers to commonly asked questions. Whether in Europe or elsewhere, this guide will help you incorporate your startup in the US and avoid common mistakes.

How to hire software engineers in Armenia

A comprehensive guide on how to hire software engineers in Armenia. With a skilled workforce, a growing tech ecosystem, and lower engineering costs, Armenia is becoming an ideal location for companies looking to establish or expand their R&D operations.

Frequently asked questions about startup advisory shares: who, how much, how, and when?

Frequently asked questions about startup advisory shares, including who should/shouldn't be a startup advisor, how much equity do advisors get, how to get the most out of your advisor and more.

New model for financing early-stage startups and R&D companies in Armenia

SmartGateVC is partnering with the Development Facility of the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE DF) to implement a new financing mode

SmartGateVC invests in Cloudchipr to tap into the multi-cloud future

SmartGateVC invests in Cloudchipr to tap into the multi-cloud future

SmartGateVC invests in Modicus Prime, process & quality control for biotech

SmartGateVC invests in Modicus Prime, process & quality control for biotech research & manufacturing SmartGateVC invests in Modicus Prime, a self-service AI company enabling process & quality control for biotech research and manufacturing

SmartGateVC welcomes Pinsight to the portfolio family  

We are thrilled to announce our investment in Pinsight as a lead investor in their pre-seed round. Pinsight is a SaaS product that...

SmartGateVC leads Dowork.ai’s pre-seed round

Dowork.ai, a collaborative platform for project time and cost estimation, raised a pre-seed round led by SmartGateVC with the...

How to file 83(B) election from Europe

There's one very crucial piece of paper that we talk about until we're blue in the face to everybody because there's actually no way to...

How to Hit the Jackpot on Product Hunt

How to Hit the Jackpot on Product Hunt If you are building an innovative product that solves real pain points, at some point you will consider opening it up to the Product Hunt co

Hero House Artificial Intelligence Incubation Program 2020

Hero House Artificial Intelligence Incubation Program 2020 Batch is Launched EFSE Entrepreneurship Academy and SmartGateVC join forces for the 2nd batch of the Hero House AI Incubation Program.

Did you cross the Rubicon?

Thoughts about teams, founder mentality, and full commitment in the light of investing in startups.

SmartGateVC leads the pre-seed round of dzook - Next Steps: Product Hunt, App Store & Google Play

We are excited to announce that SmartGateVC led the pre-seed round of dzookAI, a one-click art creation platform.

SmartGateVC is establishing a technology hub in Glendale, CA - Hero House Glendale

SmartGateVC is establishing Hero House Glendale with the launch planned in Fall 2020. Hero House Glendale aims to serve the naturally-expand...

AimHub closes a pre-seed round led by SmartGateVC and gets into Berkeley SkyDeck

We are thrilled to welcome AimHub, a version control and collaboration hub for AI teams, to the SmartGateVC portfolio as the lead investor...

Expper Technologies raises a round led by SmartGateVC - 2020: Pilots in California and Massachusetts

We’re delighted to welcome Expper Technologies to the SmartGateVC family as the lead investor in their pre-seed round. In a rapidly growing robotics market...

SmartGateVC leads pre-seed round for ForgeFiction

We are excited to announce SmartGateVC is leading a pre-seed round for ForgeFiction, which brings in a brand new way of writing, where stories and books are written by communities, instead of individuals.

Angels of Venture Capital

I spent one month during summer shadowing Tim Draper. The first learning (the reminder) was “getting rich slowly”. It’s not common to hear...

The Startup Scene of New Armenia: from Source of Talent to Home for Talent

SmartGateVC is part of Snark AI’s seed round along with Y Combinator, Baidu Ventures, Fenox Ventures

SmartGateVC is excited to be part of Snark AI’s $1.7m seed round with Y Combinator, Baidu Ventures, Fenox Ventures, Tribe Capital, and other prominent angels and VCs.

SmartGateVC leads pre-seed round with Grovf

We are excited to announce our investment in Grovf, a SaaS to accelerate any Java Virtual Machine (VJM) software 10x.

SmartGateVC introduces the #landed program

We are thrilled to announce the launch of the #landed program, a project to connect Armenians in tech all around the world with the tech community in Armenia.

SmartGateVC invests in SuperAnnotate AI

We are excited to announce our investment in SuperAnnotate AI, a 10-20x faster and extremely accurate image annotation technology powered by...

SmartGateVC invests in Facehub

We are excited to announce the investment in Facehub, the first ever technology enabling face-to-face transfer on mobile device.

SmartGateVC invested in Embry

We are excited to announce the investment in Embry, a startup tapping into the future of wearable devices to meet the evolving needs of weig...

Embracing Quantum Computing in Yerevan

The quantum computing revolution is upon us - a wave to impact the world by solving some of the most challenging problems we have. We at Sma...

SmartGateVC invested in 2Hz and XCloud Networks

We are delighted to announce our first two investments in 2Hz and XCloud Networks. 2Hz’s speech enhancement technology significantly...

Tim Draper invests in SmartGateVC

2018 starts with a new and bright page for Armenia. Tim Draper noticed the emerging opportunities evolving from here and we are delighted to announce investment from Tim.

SmartGateVC and Microsoft Partnership

SmartGateVC is pleased to announce that starting February 2018, all SmartGateVC portfolio companies will have access to up to $120,000 of free Azure credits...

Armenian Tech Startups and Venture Capital – Reaching for the Brass Ring

Armenia has emerged as a rising star of tech entrepreneurship, targeting to be one of the top next generation technology hubs. This was the...

Better together: Hero House is introduced to the startup community and friends

Hero House is the basement to spread the Hero culture in Armenia. Sourcing its inspiration from the Draper University of Superheroes...

Armenian startup ecosystem: open secrets, big opportunities

Armenia is a rising star of tech entrepreneurship targeting to be one of the top among next generation technology hubs.

Armenia Startup Academy: New Opportunities for Armenian Startups

On October 16, the Armenia Startup Academy will be launched in Armenia, which aims to develop the Armenian startup ecosystem by utilizing necessary knowledge and experience, and create an environment where global level technology startups will be born.

Guide to Convertible Securities

In this article we discuss the widely known and applied convertible investment instruments: Safe, KISS and TechStars Convertible Note; and bring to your attention the key background knowledge and parameters you should know while dealing with those.

Catalyst, Foundations and Fund for Superheroes

Energy, values and character are the foundations we appreciate most of all in our startup founders and help them develop further.

The basics you need to know to incorporate in Delaware

For a new company that is looking to attract investment from angels or VCs, Delaware incorporation is often the only best way to go.

Armenia – the heaven R&D center with rapidly evolving startup ecosystem

This article is a practical introductory guide for a founder seeking to set up a company in Armenia or a foreign startup seeking to set up an R&D center in Armenia.

Unleash the Future

More than 200 representatives of tech entrepreneurship and science community gathered for Unleash the Future tech event, held on May 30...

Our pipeline companies awarded EUR15-50K grants from the EU

On May 5th the winners of the application process for Innovation Matching Grants (IMG) and Science and Technology Entrepreneurship...

Nurturing innovative growth: support and financing opportunities for startups

On May 3, 2017 around 100 participants representing the private and public sector, business associations, companies and individuals...