BANTER PEOPLE & PLACES
Lisa Friedlander of Citrine Angels, pictured in her office at Shulman Rogers, where she serves as chief revenue officer of the Rockville firm’s startup law practice group, Next
Giving Them Wings A local organization is bringing together women in business over startup money, whether they’re looking to invest it or receive it BY AMY HALPERN
In February 2019, an article online caught the eye of Bethesda business executive and attorney Lisa Friedlander. It was about a new investor group called Citrine Angels, whose mission was to connect novice female investors with early-stage, women-led startups. Friedlander quickly emailed the founder, Allyson Redpath, to offer her support. “For decades…the percentage of capital—venture capital—going to female founders has been 2% or under,” says Friedlander, who co-founded an online marketplace for summer camps and other activities for kids called Activity Rocket in 2013 and then sold the business four years later to Thrively, a California-based education technology platform. “When I launched and grew and sold my company…[I] experienced firsthand the discrimination and difficulties of female founders raising capital.” Fast forward to today, and Friedlander is one of Citrine Angels’ principals. Named after the gemstone believed to promote prosperity, Citrine Angels has a dual pur-
PHOTO BY LINDSEY MAX
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pose: It provides female-founded startups around the country with access to capital, and it teaches financially secure women throughout the D.C. area how to become successful angel investors. “The idea is to create more women angel investors,” says Friedlander, who, along with two Northern Virginia women, took the helm in late 2019, after Redpath stepped aside to accept a high-ranking position with the Maryland Department of Commerce. To be considered an accredited—or angel—investor by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, an individual must have a net worth (spouses included) of more than $1 million, excluding their primary residence, or individual income of more than $200,000 for the past two years. Citrine Angels members also must meet these requirements. A $995 annual fee gives them access to monthly virtual pitch presentations, as well as monthly in-person networking gatherings and educational opportunities
that focus on everything from portfoliobuilding strategies to evaluating a startup for its investment potential. The group has a Bethesda mailing address, but its events are held either online or at sites around the D.C. area. The nonprofit’s 80 members aren’t required to make regular investments, though they are encouraged to make at least a small investment every year—“as low as 5 and 10K,” Friedlander says. The way it works: Citrine Angels accepts applications from female-led startups. A committee then vets each company, and those that pass the initial review are given the opportunity to pitch the group. If there’s enough interest in the startup from Citrine Angels’ members, then a lengthier due diligence process begins, with a deep dive into the startup’s financials, the marketplace for its product or services, and its leadership team. Once the due diligence report is shared with members, each decides whether she is interested in investing— either directly into the startup if the dollar
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