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The Role of Angel Investors In Financing Innovation and Start-ups. Kimberlie Cerrone. What is an angel investor?. Someone who is investing her own money Usually , but not always, angels participate early - in the first/second “outside” investment round
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The Role of Angel Investors In Financing Innovation and Start-ups Kimberlie Cerrone
What is an angel investor? • Someone who is investing her own money • Usually, but not always, angels participate early - in the first/second “outside” investment round • Angels determine their own investment strategies and processes • Angels can ignore their own investment strategies and processes
Why be an angel investor? • Financial returns • To work with entrepreneurial companies • To give back to their communities • To apply the expertise and experience gained during their careers • To spend time with entrepreneurs: the smartest and most talented, focused, and ambitious people in society as they’re changing the world, and in doing so creating new products and services, jobs and wealth
How to be an angel investor • Individual vs. Group vs. Syndicate • Groups impose discipline • Combining deal flow leads to more and better opportunities • Combining investment capital leads to better financed companies
Kimberlie’ Rules • Companies need local angels with relevant expertise and connections • My check gets cashed last • Invest in the team, not the plan • Don’t invest in a plan without the team • No jerks • Don’t break my own rules
How Important is Angel Funding? • Definition of “early stage” in venture capital has gotten later and later • Bridging the financing gap between F&F (<$3-500k) and earliest stage VC funds (>$1-2M) • Companies that start with angel investments have a significantly better chance of succeeding (says Harvard and the Kauffman Foundation) • Angels invest about the same amount of total investment capital year after year as VCs (in the US) • Angels invest in 15x the total number of startups than VCs
Can public sector funding replace angel investments? • Maybe, sometimes • But it takes too long to qualify for it • Non-dilutive public money usually supplements angel and venture capital, but does not displace it.
My observations Entrepreneurial ecosystems cannot thrive, or support an expanding venture capital community, without having a robust angel community.