# Douglas A. Vaughn

> Douglas A. Vaughn is a seed investor at Barings BDC backing Machine Learning. See 2 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [Barings BDC](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/triangle-capital-corporation)
- Total investments: 2
- Last investment: Oct 2018
- Lead investor: 0%
- Last updated: Aug 2026

Douglas A. Vaughn is a seed investor at Barings BDC focused on Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. Doug Vaughn joined Triangle in 2008 as a Managing Director. Mr. Vaughn has extensive management experience operating businesses and has served in investment and advisory roles for middle market companies, portfolio businesses, and divisions of large multinational corporations.Prior to joining TCAP, Mr. Vaughn was President and a Director ofr of VIETRI, Inc., America’s largest importer, distributor and marketer of handmade Italian ceramic and home décor items. Immediately prior to his eight years at VIETRI, Inc., Mr. Vaughn advised business owners and managers, including private equity funds, on strategic initiatives including acquisitions and corporate finance — first as a Senior Consultant at Deloitte Consulting and later as a Partner at Chatham Partners. While with Deloitte, he also led an internal acquisition effort for the firm. Prior to his time in management consulting and investment banking, Mr. Vaughn served in management roles for Sara Lee Corporation, specifically for Sara Lee Personal Products Europe, where he was an original member of the team that established and managed the company’s first division in Eastern Europe including manufacturing, distribution, marketing, and sales operations.Mr. Vaughn holds a BA from the University of Virginia and an MBA from The University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler School of Business. He is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization, a Chartered Financial Analyst, and has served on a variety of for-profit and non-profit boards.

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Machine Learning | 2 | 100% |
| Artificial Intelligence | 2 | 100% |
| Information Technology | 1 | 50% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Diveplane | Diveplane Corporation is a groundbreaking technology startup dedicated to keeping the humanity in AI. Their first project is an Understandable AI decision system. They believe in Responsible AI, meaning machines ought to preserve, amplify, and empower the best intentions of humanity both in how they function technically, and how they are applied tosolve problems – unlike uninterpretable black box systems that make life-altering decisions in an instant, but can’t explain why.Their proprietary and patented AI platform is faster than current off-the-shelf solutions and can train on significantly less data, while also addressing the technical shortcomings and societal concerns that have kept many from trusting and adopting AI. | $6M | Seed | Oct 16, 2018 |  |
| Howso | The company's mission focuses on establishing trustworthy AI as the global standard by redesigning it from the ground up, ensuring transparency and human comprehensibility in every aspect.Howso is an AI-driven platform designed to assist enterprises in preparing and analyzing data for AI use cases. This is achieved through the UnderstandableAI® Platform—a data-centric AI solution offering a clear alternative to traditional neural networks.Howso (formerly “Diveplane”) was co-founded by Dr. Mike Capps, Dr. Chris Hazard, and Mike Resnick in 2017. In September 2023, the company rebranded to Howso, alongside the release of our open source project. |  | Seed | Oct 16, 2018 |  |

2 of 2 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Presence Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/presence-capital) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Wolfpack Investor Network](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/wolfpack-investor-network) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Duke Angel Network](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/duke-angel-net) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Venture Capital Multiplier Fund](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/venture-capital-multiplier-fund) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

## About Barings BDC

VC Fund · Raleigh, United States

Triangle Capital Corporation (Public, NASDAQ:TCAP) is a US-based specialty finance company.Triangle Capital Corporation (Triangle) is a specialty finance company that provides customized financing solutions to lower middle market companies located throughout the United States, with annual revenues between $10 and $100 million. Trianglegenerates income from its debt investments and capital appreciation from its equity related investments. The Company partners with business owners, management teams and financial sponsors to provide financing solutions to fund corporate events. Triangle invests primarily in senior and subordinated debt securities secured by first and second-lien security interests in portfolio company assets, coupled with equity interests. The Company wholly owns Triangle Mezzanine Fund LLLP (the Fund) and Triangle Mezzanine LLC (TML), the general partner of the Fund. The Company's investments generally range from $5 to $15 million per portfolio company.

5 contacts available at Barings BDC.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| C. Robert Knox, Jr | Vice President | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/c-robert-knox-jr |
| Andrew K. Snow | Analyst | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/andrew-k-snow-2 |
| Daniel R. Shank | investment Manager | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/daniel-r-shank |
| David F. Parker | investment Manager | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/david-f-parker |
| Douglas A. Vaughn | Managing Director | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/douglas-a-vaughn-2 |

## Similar investors

### Similar stage
- [Antler](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/antler-be9c) — VC Fund
- [Alumni Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/alumni-ventures-group) — VC Fund
- [Right Side Capital Management](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/right-side-capital-management) — VC Fund

## FAQ

### What does Douglas A. Vaughn invest in?

Douglas A. Vaughn invests primarily in Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and Information Technology startups, most often at Seed stage. Most of the 2 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### When did Douglas A. Vaughn last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Douglas A. Vaughn closed in Oct 2018. Shizune tracks 2 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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