COCKTAILS & CAPITAL™ | ICW® Capital x Founders Alley

Mellie Chow is an engineer-turned product executive, venture capitalist, and educator with 25+ years of experience across telecom, media, financial services, healthcare, and consumer tech. As Venture Partner at Archangel Axion Fund, she writes $100K–$300K checks at Seed and Series A into companies across GovTech, FinTech, Digital Health, Food & Bev, and EnergyTech. She also serves as an Adjunct Professor at NYU School of Professional Studies and Elizabethtown College, and as a Board Advisor to Techstars Toronto. A former Executive Director of Competitive Intelligence at Comcast, Mellie brings both the operator’s lens and the investor’s lens to every conversation.

Kathryn is an SBA attorney at Starfield Smith PC, where she advises founders on legal strategy, entity structure, fundraising preparation, and exit planning. Her practice sits at the intersection of small business law and SBA financing — helping companies understand the legal requirements of SBA-backed capital and how to structure their companies to be fundable, defensible, and exit-ready. Starfield Smith PC is a proud sponsor and legal partner of ICW® Capital

Jeremy Ortiz is a financial professional with New York Life, where he works with founders and business owners on using life insurance as a strategic business asset — not just a personal protection tool. Jeremy helps entrepreneurs understand how permanent life insurance can function as a non-dilutive wealth-building vehicle, how key-person coverage protects companies from the unexpected, and when in a company’s lifecycle each strategy makes the most financial sense. New York Life is a proud sponsor and financial partner of ICW® Capital.

Katie McMillan brings 18+ years of payments industry experience to her role as Director of Integrated Solutions at Simpay. From customer service to senior leadership in integrated payments and ISO revenue management, Katie has spent nearly two decades watching companies scale — or stall — based on the financial infrastructure decisions they made early. At Simpay, she leads ISV partnerships and integrated payment strategy, helping software companies and growing businesses embed payments the right way. Simpay is a proud sponsor and financial infrastructure partner of ICW® Capital.

Tod Kupstas is an IP attorney at Offit Kurman and serves as Legal Counsel to ICW® Capital. His practice focuses on patent prosecution, software and AI patents, patent portfolio strategy for M&A transactions, due diligence, and patent and trademark litigation. Tod works with companies and investors to understand, protect, and maximize the value of intellectual property assets — particularly in the context of acquisition and exit. Tonight he steps into the moderator role from a practitioner’s perspective, bringing the IP and M&A due diligence lens to every conversation on this panel.

Chris Morganelli is the CEO of MCIT, a Bethlehem, PA-based cybersecurity and managed IT services firm he founded in 2015. Following a merger with TechCure in 2021, MCIT now manages 50+ companies across 10 states using a multi-layered, AI-powered approach to cybersecurity monitoring and defense. A Computer Science graduate of DeSales University, Chris also publishes Network Magazine — the Lehigh Valley’s high-end B2B publication — and co-owns Morganelli Properties. He serves as a Board Advisor to ICW ® Capital and anchors the organization’s Lehigh Valley chapter expansion.

Blessy Thomas is Managing Partner of Innovate Capital Growth Fund (ICGF), a growth equity fund focused exclusively on minority- and women-owned businesses in the Mid-Atlantic with revenues between $2M and $20M. With 12+ years of experience in deal underwriting, portfolio management, and growth strategy, Blessy leads ICGF’s investment execution and operations. ICGF is structured as an SBIC — a Small Business Investment Company licensed and regulated by the SBA — which enables the fund to deploy patient, mission-aligned capital with a lower return hurdle than traditional VC. TD Bank made a $5M mission-related investment into ICGF based on its commitment to underrepresented founders. Blessy previously served as Director of The Enterprise Center.

Katie McMillan brings 18+ years of payments industry experience to her role as Director of Integrated Solutions at Simpay. From customer service to senior leadership in integrated payments and ISO revenue management, Katie has spent nearly two decades watching companies scale — or stall — based on the financial infrastructure decisions they made early. On this panel, Katie speaks to the operational due diligence side of exit preparation: what she looks for when evaluating a company’s payments infrastructure, what financial red flags are visible to people who know where to look, and what the right financial foundation looks like for a company that wants to be built to sell.