Boulder Angels: 2025 Recap

Welcome back to the Boulder Angels Insider, your regularly irregular update on what we’ve been building, backing, and planning. 🦬 

Another Buff Founder, Another Check 💸 

I’m thrilled to share our fourth investment as a group into LumenAstra.

LumenAstra is commercializing IP from CU Boulder developing a breakthrough, non-invasive sensor measuring brain temperature in surgical and ICU trauma patients followed later by wearable applications for early warning of heat stress for warfighters, firefighters and athletes.

We are thrilled to back such a talented team led by CEO Jim Pollock and can’t wait to witness their continued success firsthand.

2025 by the Numbers

As we head into the new year, it’s absolutely worth pausing to reflect on milestones we’ve hit together:

• $562,000 invested since May

• 14 Buff investors in our network

• 14 pitches hosted across three pitch sessions

• One awesome summer social

This kind of momentum doesn’t happen by accident. Huge thanks to our members and everyone who’s shown up, leaned in, written checks, asked hard questions, and helped to make Boulder Angels what it is becoming.

Shout out to Dave DiGiacomo and the Michael Best team for hosting our pitch sessions and offering such great counsel to local founders at all stages. Also a big thanks to Alec & Malte with JP Morgan for supporting our summer social this year.

Thanks to Stan Hickory with CU Boulder I&E and the great folks at Venture Partners for supporting our growth.

A Big Win for Angels: The INVEST Act

We’ve all seen plenty of coverage on daycares in Minnesota lately, so here’s some more positive and relevant political news:

The INVEST Act (passed by house, not yet by senate) includes several provisions that meaningfully improve the landscape for angel investors nationwide:

• Section 102 modernizes Reg D by allowing founders to present at events (such as universities, angel groups, and accelerators) without those pitches being treated as general solicitation. This reduces the legal risk for groups hosting pitch sessions, removing a long-standing gray area that has made many organizations overly cautious. The result is more open founder-investor interactions, with clearer rules and far less potential downside for the ecosystems facilitating them.

• Section 201 expands the accredited investor definition to include additional professional, educational, and experience-based qualifications (e.g. CFA, CPA) opening the door for more knowledgeable investors to participate.

• Section 203 directs the SEC to create an exam-based pathway to accreditation, further democratizing access while maintaining investor protections.

All of this stacks nicely with strong state-level incentives like Colorado OEDIT’s Advanced Industry Tax Credit (AITC) - which LumenAstra is currently taking advantage of - making Colorado one of the most compelling places in the country to angel invest.

Upcoming Events

• Boulder Angels Q1 Pitch Session

  🗓️ February 12th, 2026

  📍 Michael Best Denver office

• CU Boulder New Venture Challenge

  🗓️ April 2026

  📍Boulder Theater

• Boulder Angels Q2 Pitch Session & Panel Discussion

  🗓️ May 2026
  📍 CU Boulder campus

That’s all for now. More events and more Buff-backed companies coming very soon.

Until next time. GO BUFFS.

-H