Angel investment event in Philadelphia

On Wednesday, May 18th, an angel investment event took place in Philadelphia. It wasn’t the first time an event was held for new angels, but it felt like a new beginning.

Philadelphia’s funding ecosystem came together at PwC to talk to over 40 Ellevate Philadelphia members and guests about early stage investing.

The night kicked off with Female Funders’ Katherine Hague addressing the main question on everyone’s mind, “How do I get started in angel investing?” Since 2015, Katherine has been running a challenge to make 1,000 women angel investors.

While most of the crowd had heard of angel investing before, many didn’t know the details and the nuances that go along with early stage funding. Katherine perfectly bridged the gap for the crowd.

She shared some tips with us about how to get involved:

• Invest up to 5% of your net worth, in 10 investments, over 2–3 years.
• If you’re new to early stage investing, you should begin investing with an angel investment group or through a venture capital fund, rather than as a lone investor.
• Check out 40–50 startups before writing your first check, which can easily be done by attending events such as a Dreamit Demo Day or local universities’ startup competitions, or by visiting the website, AngelList.
• Learn from other early stage investors, not from startup founders who are busy running a business.

The event emphasized how much of a role community plays in early stage investing. Along with Katherine, Philadelphia’s early stage investors, who were also sponsors of the night, were on-site to help educate the crowd. Women spent an hour mingling, asking questions, and gleaning insights with the speakers and sponsors.

By night’s end, women were inquiring about what companies were looking to take on angel investments and how to reach them.

Many of the women said how exciting it was to see so many women interested in investing in Philly startups.

Are you looking to get started in investing? Check out Katherine Hague’s Female Funders for more information on Angel School.

Also, head to these Philadelphia-area angel investment groups and venture funds to get involved: Dreamit, Delaware Crossing, Jumpstart NJ, Robin Hood Ventures, Osage Venture Partners, Rittenhouse Ventures, and Safeguard Scientifics.

Related

Originally published at facingthenumbers.com on May 24, 2016.