Investor Relationships¶
BOMForge is raising a $2M pre-seed on a post-money SAFE at $20M cap. As of April 2026, 20 firms are tracked in the Attio "Startup Fundraising" pipeline (15 Lead, 5 Pitch). Cooley LLP (Dave Young, Dan Hutchins, Regina Tanguma) is legal counsel. Banking is Mercury.
Pitch Stage (Active Conversations)¶
Sonia Nagar, SNAK Venture Partners¶
- Fund: $50M Fund I (oversubscribed). Chicago-based.
- Contact: sonia@snak.vc, 734-945-7809, @ssahney on X
- Co-founder: Adam Koopersmith
- Background: Ex-Pritzker Group VC (decade). Portfolio: Coinbase (IPO), G2 (unicorn), Backlot Cars (exit), TicketsNow (exit). Co-founded Pickie (acquired by RetailMeNot 2014). Amazon, Goldman Sachs, GM, Booz & Co. Michigan ME (magna cum laude), Harvard MBA.
- Thesis alignment: "Supply Chain Marketplaces: Perfectly Timed for Tariffs and Turmoil." "SaaS is getting crushed. Marketplaces are not." Five principles of data moats in marketplaces.
- Demo call: March 30, 2026, 7:00 AM PT, 30 minutes. 19+ deck views.
- Key framing: Frame as marketplace with intelligence, not SaaS. Mirror her language. Never say "solo founder."
- Ask: $500K check from SNAK. $2M SAFE at $20M cap.
- Follow-up contacts: Follow-up template ready at
docs/sales/post-snak-followup-template.md
Brett Calhoun, Redbud VC¶
- Title: Managing Director and General Partner
- Location: Columbia, Missouri
- Fund: approximately $6.5M Fund I. Check size: $50K-$200K. Does NOT lead rounds.
- Contact: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/brettcalhoun393, @brettcalhounn on X
- Background: Forbes 30 Under 30 (VC, 2024). Accounting to VC. CharlieMike founder ($1M ARR in 12 months). Crosby MBA, Mizzou.
- Key co-founders at Redbud: Jai Malik (CEO of Amca, $76.5M from a16z/Founders Fund/Lux for A&D manufacturing), Willy Schlacks (co-founder EquipmentShare, $4B+ revenue).
- Status: Champion. 32+ deck views. Making introductions. Strategy: "Jai is acquiring the suppliers. BOMForge is the intelligence layer."
- Style: DiSC assessments, structured habit scoring, 300 LinkedIn messages/week, 1,500 first calls/year. 24-hour term sheets. Backs "founders strengthened by struggle."
Cantos VC¶
- Contacts: Grant Gregory, Amee Kapadia
- Status: 10+ deck views, draft outreach ready
- Approach: Send Monday following SNAK call
First Look Partners¶
- Contact: Josh Porter
- Status: 9+ deck views, draft ready
True Ventures¶
- Contact: Soul Dayan, Principal
- Fund: approximately $3.8B+ AUM, $900M+ Fund VII. Typical first check $1-3M.
- Demo call: March 29, 2026, 5:30 PM PT (Zoom)
- Portfolio alignment: Relativity Space (3D-printed rockets), Hadrian (precision manufacturing), Fictiv (on-demand manufacturing), Bright Machines (factory automation)
- Ask: $500K-$1M as institutional lead
- Key framing: "The intelligence layer for the American manufacturing renaissance." Emphasize reshoring macro, data moat, execution speed.
- Fit score: 8/10 (stage HIGH, sector HIGH, check size HIGH, valuation MEDIUM)
Lead Stage (Engaged, Not Yet At Pitch)¶
New Vista Capital¶
- Contacts: Diana Zhou (Investor, dz@newvistacap.com), Kory Mathews (Senior Partner, km@newvistacap.com)
- Fund: $60M Fund I (Dec 2025), Washington DC. Check size: $1-3M.
- Key person: Dennis Muilenburg (co-founder, former Boeing CEO). Kory Mathews: 39 years at Boeing, VP Phantom Works, VP Chief Engineer Military Aircraft.
- Thesis: Early-stage aerospace and defense. Four pillars: AI/Autonomy, Defense, Space, Reindustrialization.
- Demo call: Diana Zhou on March 30, 2026 at 1:30 PM PT.
- Portfolio: Castelion (hypersonics), Chariot Defense, Elroy Air, AMCA
- Key insight: Kory Mathews is the most valuable person in the meeting. He is a 39-year Boeing veteran evaluating whether this solves a real problem. Ask: "When you were running Phantom Works, how did your team find qualified suppliers for a classified program?"
Other Warm Contacts¶
| Contact | Firm | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Elizabeth May | a16z connection | Offered to forward deck |
| Heston Berkman | Banter Capital | Draft ready |
| Burak Cendek | AutoTech ($500M+) | Draft ready, SF trip end of April |
| Eva Ho | Fika Ventures | Draft ready |
| Brian O'Malley | Battery Ventures | Cold outreach |
Untapped High-Value LinkedIn Connections¶
| Contact | Fund | Connected Since |
|---|---|---|
| Matt Ocko | DCVC ($3B+) | 2013 |
| Franziska Bossart | Amazon $1B Industrial Innovation | Jul 2025 |
| Liam Kersbergen | Plug and Play Supply Chain ($25.5M) | Sep 2025 |
| Tom Hammer | a16z | Aug 2022 |
Target Funds (Not Yet Contacted)¶
| Fund | Size | Thesis Fit |
|---|---|---|
| Construct Capital | $440M | "Foundational industries" thesis, strongest fit not yet in pipeline |
| Eclipse Ventures | $4B | Manufacturing modernization, pre-seed program. Diana Zhou (New Vista) was previously a Venture Partner here. |
Key Relationships (Non-Investor)¶
Katherine Boyle, a16z¶
General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz. American Dynamism thesis. Target for relationship building and potential Series A. No direct outreach yet, but Elizabeth May connection could provide a path.
Greg Reichow, Eclipse Ventures¶
Partner focused on manufacturing modernization. Target for warm intro through Diana Zhou (New Vista, ex-Eclipse VP).
Advisory¶
Rob Handfield, PhD¶
Bank of America Distinguished Professor of Supply Chain Management, NC State. Executive Director, Supply Chain Resource Cooperative. 25+ Fortune 500 engagements. Editor-in-Chief MDPI Logistics. The most cited supply chain academic in the US. Paid advisor to BOMForge. His PhD is from UNC Chapel Hill, bridging both institutions.
Tommy Sowers (Target Advisor / Institutional Partner)¶
Starts as Vice Chancellor for Innovation at UNC Chapel Hill on April 20, 2026. Green Beret, 11-year Army veteran. Former NSIN Southeast Regional Director. Former Assistant Secretary at VA. NC AI Leadership Council member. H4D instructor at Duke. Partnership opportunities: IDB/LOGTECH integration, H4D course sponsorship, Kenan Institute research partnership, SBIR/STTR co-application.
Tom is a UNC alum (Morehead-Cain Scholar, MS Information Science, Operations Research under Harvey Wagner).
Raise Terms¶
| Term | Value |
|---|---|
| Instrument | Post-money SAFE |
| Cap | $20M |
| Raising | $2M |
| Dilution | 10% |
| Counsel | Cooley LLP |
| Banking | Mercury |
| Use of funds | Two engineers, CRO, data pipeline, government pilots |
See Partner Relationships (team wiki) for the design partner pipeline and non-investor strategic relationships.
CRM and Pipeline Management¶
Attio CRM: 533+ contacts, approximately 13K companies, 18 firms on Startup Fundraising pipeline. Free tier trial ends April 8, 2026. Decision: don't pay until a dedicated salesperson is doing outbound. For three founders doing investor outreach, the docs/sales/ folder functions as the CRM.
Sources¶
- BRIEFING-2026-03-26.md (docs/BRIEFING-2026-03-26.md)
- BRIEFING-NEW-VISTA-CAPITAL.md (docs/BRIEFING-NEW-VISTA-CAPITAL.md)
- BRIEFING-TRUE-VENTURES-2026-03-29.md (docs/BRIEFING-TRUE-VENTURES-2026-03-29.md)
- BRIEFING-UNC-TOMMY-SOWERS.md (docs/BRIEFING-UNC-TOMMY-SOWERS.md)
- BRETT-CALHOUN-DECK-2026-03-16.md (docs/BRETT-CALHOUN-DECK-2026-03-16.md)
- deals/REDBUD-VC-BRETT-CALHOUN-INTEL.md (docs/deals/REDBUD-VC-BRETT-CALHOUN-INTEL.md)
- SNAK-DEMO-SCRIPT-2026-03-30.md (docs/SNAK-DEMO-SCRIPT-2026-03-30.md)
- SONIA-DEMO-PREP.md (docs/SONIA-DEMO-PREP.md)
- CRM-TEAM-CALL-BRIEF.md (docs/CRM-TEAM-CALL-BRIEF.md)
- sales/post-snak-followup-template.md (docs/sales/post-snak-followup-template.md)
- Fundraise Status
- Strategy Overview (team wiki)
- Competitive Landscape (team wiki)