In the News

Karen Rands interviewed via PodCast by Thomas Newell "Show me the Money". Entrepreneurial Workshop October, 2006.

Karen Rands Article:   Private Equity Investing...it is so hot, why aren't more wealthy people doing it?

Karen Rands, as President of NBA&I to moderate the panel discussion:  "Global Entrepreneurship:  How to do Well, by Doing Good".

Kugarand Holdings companies NBA&I and LAUNCHfn partner with the Minority Business Enterprise Center of GA Tech to host the Do the Deal Venture Forum in August 2006 as part of MEDWeek.  For full article....

Karen Rands asked to participate in the MIT Enterprise Forum's Panel discussion following the Access To Capital Broadcast in June, 2006  More info, click here.

Karen Rands interviewed as part of the initiative to create a Progressive Investor Network.   NBA&I joins forces with the Atlanta Urban League and MBEC to create a special interest group within the growing membership of NB&I.  For full article.....

LAUNCHfn Sets the Stage for Another NBA&I Angel Investor Event March 15th; Minority Business Enterprise Center Joins In
3 Minority Owned Companies Qualify  to Present to the Network of Business Angels & Investors

Kugarand Holdings delivers the "Money Hunt" speech to multiple audiences
   TIE, Technlinks; Buckhead Club Entrepreneur Series, Norcross Business Association

LAUNCHfn and NBA&I host first successful Private Investor Dinner on 3/30 (4/05)
Kugarand Holdings announces success in acquiring majority share of NBA&I (2/05)
Kugarand Holdings asked to participate on Board for MBDC and Business Linc's Financial Round Table (2/05)
Launch Funding Network prepares Access to Capital Boot Camp (2/05)
Kugarand Holdings enters negotiations with the Network of Business Angels and Investors regarding merger/acquisition (1/05)

Kugarand Holdings becomes a Supporting Organization for Springboard (10/04)
   "Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained"
Kugarand Holdings signs three Media Industry clients (10/04)
Kugarand Holdings launches Launch Funding Network (LaunchFN) (8/04)
Kugarand Holdings, LLC asked to assist in planning the "Bridging the Capital Divide" session held at MED Week (8/04)
Hot new snack food company hires Kugarand Holdings  (6/04)  (update 3/05)
Kugarand Holdings Launches Angel Investing 101 - eCourse (4/04)
Karen Rands, Interviewed for Atlanta Women Magazine (03/04)
StarBox launches product at Sound City Music Retailer Conference (01/04
Kugarand Holdings Enters a Joint Venture and signs new clients (12/03)
Kugarand Holdings Shifts Focus 2003
Kugarand Holdings Joins BusinessLinc to launch Economic Development Fund
Kugarand Holdings Announces Contract with Accseus Centers
Kugarand Holdings Announces signs three new clients 2002
Kugarand Holdings Arranges Letters of Commitments for Clients (2001)

Springboard Enterprises and The College of Management at Georgia Tech are pleased to co-host the second annual Growth Capital Workshop. Scheduled October 19th, 2004 at Technology Square on Georgia Tech campus, the Springboard Growth Capital Workshop will offer insider information on the strategies used to find and secure equity capital.

The one-day Workshop features keynotes and case studies from successful entrepreneurs, as well as experts offering advice on positioning businesses for growth and attracting the right source of investment capital. There is ample opportunity to interact with the experts, ask questions and familiarize yourself with the many resources available to entrepreneurs. An opportunity for a few pre-selected companies to 'pitch' their businesses to a panel of the region's investors and business development professionals. At the end of the day all attendees will have an opportunity to pair with experts who will assist them with their business pitch.

Kugarand Holdings is proud to be working with three new clients in the media and publishing industry.   Kugarand Holdings has provided varied services from business plan evaluation, funding strategy, and investor introduction to complete development of the offering and materials for the investor community.

The first is a client with a long history of seeking advice and counsel from Kugarand Holdings and had finally reached a point that their infrastructure, contracts,  and product development was mature enough to seek institutional investment.   This client has secured exclusive rights to satellite broadcast of live performances, special events, and special interest broadcasts, to be packaged for deliver on high definition cable TV channels and for repackaging and publishing in consumer grade DVD.   Initially they will receive a $300,000 working capital loan to bridge to the public offering which will occur in early 2005 and is expected to raise $20 Million for expansion and acquisition of other companies in the media and publishing space.

The second client has a 7 year history helping other artists edit and publish their audio and video productions.   With tremendous experience and industry connections, they are launching a full operation for video and audio editing and publishing and will "rent" the facility to the growing market of film, recording, Television, and gaming companies that come to Atlanta to create content,  but lack the facility to complete the editing and publishing or lack the facility to edit while on location.   Further this company will work to create original content to create ongoing revenue streams for a return to their shareholders.   The initial investment of $5M will include $3M of hard assets and solid exit plans for the investors.  This client will strive to participate in the upcoming Real Estate Venture Forum on November 11th.

The third client is a very successful Urban Music artist that has realized the potential of producing and marketing his own music.   Through an extensive list of potential investors, this company will break new ground for musicians and artists that want to control the original content they create and have the commercial power to market and distribute.   This company has three extremely commercially viable albums ready for distribution and is seeking $2.5 M to facilitate the launch of each.   They are in the initial stages of creating the investor documents and completing the business plan.

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Kugarand Holdings, LLC has been working with two of its alliance partners to develop a fresh approach for companies seeking capital to grow their business.   Launch Funding Network (LAUNCHfn) provides  customized services for start-up companies and emerging high-growth small businesses, as well as more established businesses who seek to expand. Clients benefit from a wide variety of products, services and resources, and enjoy access to our extensive business funding network of private equity investors who are seeking well-developed small business investment opportunities and well-prepared entrepreneurs.  This empowers these companies to skyrocket their business to success! 

To learn more, please visit:   www.launchfn.com 

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Kugarand Holdings participated as member of the committee to plan the Bridging the Capital Divide as the annual MED week conference held in Atlanta in August.  This conference is an opportunity for Minority companies to learn more about growing their businesses.  The Bridging the Capital Divide forum was intended for select members of the financial and services industry to come together to better understand the challenges minority owned companies face when trying to attract private equity investment and qualify for small business loans.   The panels had representatives from the private equity investment world:  Noro Mosley, Sustainable Job Funds, and Solomon Brothers.  Joann Hill, Regional Manger for the Minority Business Development Center held Karen Rands and Kugarand Holdings as the key organization to identify, prepare and assist companies in their hunt for capital.

Hot new snack food company hires Kugarand Holdings  (6/04)

Nature's Popcorn is a fast growth snack food company servicing the growing demand for healthy, spicy snack food.  Their Spiced Up Popcorn,  RASTAPOP,  has exploded from a handful of healthfood stores in the Atlanta Area, to 200 stores in the SE and plans for full distribution in over 2000 Kroger and Publix stores in the SouthEast.  Kugarand Holdings was hired to review their business plan and prepare their investor marketing documents and investor stock purchase agreements for their initial raise.   Feedback has been very positive after the initial private investor gathering.  Nature's Popcorn expects to close the round in the near future.  For more info visit www.rastapop.com

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StarBox launches product at Sound City Music Retailer Conference

Kugarand Holdings joined its client, StarBox, at their industry launch of the revolutionary Music CD Kiosk. The conference was held January 14th to the 17th in Dallas, Texas. Sound City Music started the conference many years ago to help independent retailers connect with the major labels and distribution channels and to provide a forum for them to grow their businesses through education and access to new technologies. All the major labels were present to talk about their 2004 plans and to endorse the StarBox solution as an cost-effective, alternative way for an independent retailer to expand their marketing presence. Although lightly attended, close to half of the retailers saw the potential of StarBox and ordered their systems. The systems will carry 150,000 music singles within the system and provide access to entire music libraries through the internet...all within an approved license model. Cost of the custom CD will be comparable to buying a manufactured CD from the label distributor. Kugarand Holdings structured the funding strategy that provided leasing to the retailers and provided advance funding to StarBox to begin manufacturing.

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Kugarand Holdings Enters a Joint Venture and signs new clients

Kugarand Holdings has entered into a Joint Venture with RightStep DPO and Dream2Concept to strengthen their ability to provide services to growing companies and to provide greater access to capital. They will use the GP Business Center in Norcross to anchor their business offerings. From that facility they will offer monthly workshops and will provide early stage companies the virtual office service and traditional offices services they require. Since its inception in October of 2003, Capital Solutions (as the Joint Venture is currently being called) has signed strategic customers representing new products for the golf training industry, do-it yourself deck enclosures, mobile advertising and event promotion company, television show production company, and an international telecommunications service and maintenance company.

Kugarand Holdings has experienced great success with their new business model, recently signing a client that offers a technology that stops the flow of lightening along a cable, another which offers voice recognition tele-management technology that recognizes phrases rather than limited words, and a company that has invented an intelligent small hover craft for use in any industry requiring aerial image capture.

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Kugarand Holdings Joins BusinessLinc to launch Economic Development Fund

BusinessLinc is a nationally recognized program established by former Vice President Al Gore. It's mission is to foster development of minority businesses through mentoring from the Business Roundtable and the Community Development Venture Funds. Kugarand Holdings joins this effort to bring socially conscious investors to the early state company that is either minority owned or located in an area designated for economic development.
As part of the events of MED Week, Kugarand Holdings assembled an advisory board from industry experts in Atlanta to review and evaluate the potential for Georgia growing its own development fund using the New Market Tax Credit program. The program was kicked off with advisors from Mellon Ventures, Anderson Financial Advisors, and others.

UPDATE: Further analysis revealed that there was not the support needed to develop a new fund or an organization to support an application for the 2003/2004 application period. It will be revisited for the 2005 application period.

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Kugarand Holdings Shifts Focus 2003

With the tightening of the Private Equity markets in 2001 and 2002, Kugarand Holdings will begin working with traditional companies that are seeking non-equity sources of financing. Furthermore, Kugarand Holdings will begin offering business plan analysis services to help companies identify shortfalls in the business plan that may prohibit their ability to attract funding.

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Kugarand Holdings Announces Contract with Accseus Centers

Accseus Centers create and develop high-growth companies for the benefit of its sponsors, owners and investors. ACA’s screening and development processes, Technology Track®, ensures that these companies are investment-ready with the groundwork in place to support on-going growth. Focusing on the technologies being developed in Atlanta, Boston, OakRidge and N. FLA area by federal, state and local government agencies, contractors, and grant recipients. – including technologies developed by private and public sector organizations – ACA is an engine for economic growth that enhances the region’s economy by launching companies that provide high-paying jobs and increase demand for real estate. ACA has contracted with Kugarand Holdings to identify sponsors, investors and members for the Innovation Club and to identify government funded organizations for technology transfer.
UPDATE: With a product ready to launch and management team identified, corporate office in Orlando, Florida, shut the project down due to corporate financial management issue.

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Kugarand Holdings Announces signs three new clients 2002

Kugarand Holdings is pleased to announce they will be representing three new clients.

Kugarand Holdings Arranges Letters of Commitments for Clients 2001

In 2001, Kugarand Holdings facilitated a commitment for $39.5 Million in funding for four early stage companies. The four projects are: