How to Raise investment from Angels
Angel investing is a large part of fundraising activity in the US and Pittsburgh. In 2015, the Angel Capital Association (ACA) counts that $25.8B was invested into 71,110 deals in the US. Along with funding, Angel groups have multiplied. There are 500+ angel groups worldwide, these groups include institutional angels, accredited angel groups, and angel funds. There are also individual angels with funding and domain expertise.
Most important for Pittsburgh startups, is what the local, institutional, and individual angels do for the Region’s startups:
Based on the E&Y and IW report, “a snapshot of Pittsburgh’s technology investment landscape trends and highlights, 2012–2016,” angels invested almost $70M into local startups in 2016!
How does your startup attract some of these investment dollars?
The best way to get the attention of angels is to do your homework. Each angel has different interests, resources, and ability to invest. For the institutional angels, they publish their investment criteria on their web page. For example, check out the BlueTree Allied Angel web page:
The criteria is very clear, but I cannot tell you how many startups apply who do not meet these criteria and it is a waste of both time and money for all involved. If you are a company that applies without considering the investment criteria, you risk getting a bad reputation. The best way to make sure you are a good match and fit the investment criteria is to meet with a member of the group and review your fund raising goals with them. A good recommendation from a member to the group is the best introduction. But, how do you find out about the individual angels when there is no public information? The answer is of course networking. That networking can involve connecting with other startups who have successfully been funded by angels, meeting with incubators, accelerators and tech-based economic development organizations who may have Chief Investment Officers, and through attending the numerous networking events around the city.
Well, here is a networking event with both institutional and individual angels for you to meet personally. Join us for Caffeinated Innovation: Raising Funds from Regionals Angels on Thursdays, April 20th at 8:00AM. Come hear from the executives Catherine Mott of BlueTree Allied Angels, Yvonne Campos of Next Act Fund LLC, Josh McElhattan of Startbot, and two individual angels, Jacob Hanchar and Bill Besselman as they describe their investment criteria. Learn whether or not your company is a good fit!
