James Smits
Founder of DAWN
New York, New York
Overview
Work Experience
Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer
2023 - Current
Internet as it should be: instant activation home Internet. We're hiring! andrena.com
Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer
2018 - 2022
Andrena is a developer of an internet distribution platform designed to offer high-speed internet at reduced costs.
Raised $35,600,000.00 from Castle Island Ventures, CMT Digital, Wintermute Ventures, Dragonfly, 6th Man Ventures, ParaFi Capital, J Ventures, Moonshot Research, KohFounders and Castle Island Ventures.
Co-Founder
2024
Decentralized Autonomous Wireless Networks. dawninternet.com
Investor
1990
Just an angel investor swashbuckling across the high seas of tech, etc. Investments include: District, HelloSubs, Pattern, Waldo, Winx Health, and Wynd Labs / Grass. elcapitancapital.com
Venture Partner
2020
Hypothesis is a seed fund, studio, and accelerator.
Senior Associate + Venture Partner
2015 - 2022
Beta Bridge Capital is a seed stage venture capital fund focused on emerging ecosystems. Sourced investments include: Artemis (Acquired by iUNU), Billie (Acquired by Edgewell Personal Care), Chicory, Gainful, Gatsby (Acquired by eToro), Mobalytics, Spreesy (Acquired by CommentSold), Visor, and Wellth. Venture Partner (2018-2022) Senior Associate (2016-2017) Associate (2015)
Beta Bridge Capital is a seed stage venture capital fund focused on emerging ecosystems.
Venture Partner
2016 - 2019
KohFounders is a pre seed fund focused on emerging ecosystems. Investments include: Aiva, Artemis (Sourced), Andrena (Sourced), Clora, CREXi, Fama, Hologram, Jetpack Workflow, Regroup Therapy, Retention Science, Simple Contacts, Triggr Health, Trim, and Wellth (Sourced).
Mentor, Melbourne Accelerator Program
2013 - 2017
The Melbourne Accelerator Program provides seed capital and mentorship for a select group of startups affiliated with the University of Melbourne.
Partner
2012 - 2017
Seed stage venture capital fund and entrepreneurship center headquartered in Princeton, NJ. Investments include: Amity (Sourced), Andrena (Sourced), Andros (Sourced), Clue, Dealtable (Sourced, Acquired by MarketAxess), Freshtemp (Acquired by Digi), Gatsby (Acquired by eToro), Pathgather (Acquired by Degreed), Radius8 (Acquired by Fiserv), Spire, TrueVault (Sourced), and Wellth (Sourced).
Business Development Associate
2011 - 2012
Leveraging data and analytics to deliver water savings to commercial real estate customers.
Banyan Water provides smart water management as a service for commercial and institutional businesses.
Raised $9,474,513.00 from Cue Ball and Catamount Ventures.
Honorary Fellow
2010 - 2010
Analysis and critique of water trading markets in Australia. Advisor: Snow Barlow