# Daren Cotter

> Daren Cotter is a seed investor in Minneapolis backing Software and Health Care. See 84 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Location: Minneapolis, United States
- Total investments: 84
- Last investment: Jan 2026
- Lead investor: 0%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darencotter/
- X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/DarenCotter
- Website: https://darencotter.com/

Daren Cotter is a seed investor in Minneapolis focused on Software and Health Care. Daren was the Founder and CEO of InboxDollars, an online marketing company that connects consumers and advertisers in a way that benefits both. He founded the company as a Freshman in college in 2000 and bootstrapped the company to more than $25 million in annual revenues. InboxDollars was acquired by Prodege in 2019. Daren is active in the MNstart-up community as an investor, advisor and mentor.

## Round sizes

| Stage | Round size |
| --- | --- |
| Seed | $1M–$4.3M |
| Series A | $3.2M–$19M |

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Software | 21 | 25% |
| Health Care | 9 | 11% |
| E-Commerce | 8 | 10% |
| Information Technology | 8 | 10% |
| Internet | 7 | 8% |

116 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seed | 38 | 45% |
| Series A | 16 | 19% |
| Funding Round | 9 | 11% |
| Pre-Seed | 7 | 8% |
| Series B | 3 | 4% |

9 stages tracked in total.

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Onsetto | Onsetto operates as a business account switching and relationship-primacy platform. | $2.2M | Seed | Jan 08, 2026 |  |
| Evecxia Therapeutics | Evecxia Therapeutics is a pharmaceutical company that develops drugs to help patients suffering from disabling neuropsychiatric conditions. It aims to develop and commercialize EVX-101 to treat patients suffering from disabling, common, and costly neuropsychiatric conditions for which current therapies are inadequate, in particular depression.Thecompany was established in 2013 and is based in Raleigh, North Carolina. | $5M | Series A | Sep 22, 2025 |  |
| Bonsai | Bonsai brings crucial first-party intelligence to marketing and activates against it. | $1.8M | Seed | Jul 17, 2025 |  |
| Franzy | Franzy is the "Zillow for franchising"—a smarter, more transparent way to find, compare, and finance franchise opportunities. We match aspiring entrepreneurs with the right franchise brands based on their goals, experience, and budget, making the path to business ownership simpler, faster, and more accessible. | $2.2M | Seed | Jul 15, 2025 |  |
| Bonsai Data Solutions | Bonsai brings critical 1P intelligence to marketing, and activates against it.Bonsai achieves this by: Designing 1st Party Data: custom configured analytics & tech Unifying 1st Party Data: marketing, business and customer analytics Utilizing 1st Party Data: digital marketing activation, incrementality, and automation1P Data \| Tech \|Intelligence \| Activation Full Service Strategy & PracticeBeliefs: Data needs a strategy to become an asset. Marketing needs data science to become intelligent. Technology needs cultivation to be truly effective.Learn more: www.bonsai.llc | $2M |  | Jun 26, 2025 |  |
| Vertical Insure | Vertical Insure is an insurance company built for vertical SaaS platforms. | $8.5M | Series A | Jun 12, 2025 |  |
| Wirespeed | Wirespeed is a cybersecurity firm that strives to simplify security for enterprises of all sizes while disrupting attackers at the speed of computing. |  | Seed | May 21, 2025 |  |
| Pakal Technologies | Pakal Technologies is a developer of IGTO-based semiconductors intended to revolutionize the IGBT market. The company's semiconductors use IGTO, a silicon device, that is a drop-in replacement for IGBTs and provides a significant performance upgrade, providing clients with efficient, scalable, and compatible semiconductors. | $25M | Series B | Jan 29, 2025 |  |
| Delfina | Delfina provides a personalized prenatal care system that uses the power of data to keep moms and babies safe during pregnancy. Their data-driven approach is uncovering unique insights in prenatal care to pave the way for clinical innovation. | $17M | Series A | Jan 28, 2025 |  |
| Continuum | Continuum is a technology firm specializing in digital networks for B2B distributors and manufacturers. | $4.1M | Seed | Aug 26, 2024 |  |

10 of 84 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Bread and Butter Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/the-syndicate-fund) — VC Fund, 18 deals together
- [Matchstick Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/matchstick-ventures) — VC Fund, 12 deals together
- [Gopher Angels](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/gopher-angels) — VC Fund, 9 deals together
- [Great North Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/great-north-labs) — VC Fund, 8 deals together
- [Groove Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/groove-capital) — VC Fund, 8 deals together
- [M25](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/M25-VC) — VC Fund, 8 deals together

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## FAQ

### What does Daren Cotter invest in?

Daren Cotter invests primarily in Software, Health Care and E-Commerce startups, most often at Seed and Series A stage. Most of the 84 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### What is Daren Cotter's check size?

Daren Cotter typically joins rounds of $1M–$4.3M at Seed and $3.2M–$19M at Series A. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds Daren Cotter participates in.

### When did Daren Cotter last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Daren Cotter closed in Jan 2026. Shizune tracks 84 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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