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Objective To introduce early stage investors and mentors to promising technology (i.e. all advanced technology fields) ventures in British Columbia. Angels Angels are accomplished entrepreneurs who wish to make early stage investments in, and sometimes provide mentoring or advice to, new companies. An ideal angel is someone who has run a successful technology venture. Investment amounts will vary greatly, but typical angel investments are in the $25K to $100K+ range. Often, several angels will invest in a company. In some cases, millions of dollars have been invested. Angels also help to attract traditional venture capital financiers, especially if they take an active role in the company and have relevant expertise. The Angel Network This Network consists of experienced technology entrepreneurs who meet monthly to hear a selected number of short business presentations by nascent technology entrepreneurs. This is not a forum style of event - it is private and informal. Between 20 and 30 angels typically attend each meeting. (Do not confuse the angel network with angel forums which are held periodically). The objective is to make initial introductions with a view to having interested parties subsequently meet in private. There are no agents, brokers, or institutional representatives. Angels invest their own capital - not other people's money. Occasionally, other investors, such as early stage VCs or government providers, are invited to attend as well. Joining the Network Membership is by invitation. There is no membership fee, other than a small annual, voluntary "coffee fund" contribution. Prospective angel participants should make contact via the web-site noted below (don't be shy!). Angel members are encouraged to invite other angels. A major advantage in belonging to the Angel Network is that members are peers who will have the benefit of each other's ideas, assessments, and friendship. Two or three members might enjoy co-investing and working together on a given company. Organization & History In 2002 The newly formed Okanagan Science and Technology Council recognized the need for improved access to capital for new business ventures in the Okanagan Valley. OSTEC identified the highly successful Angel Network (Vantec founded April 1999) in Vancouver as a model worth implementing, and proceeded to develop a partnership to leverage Vantec’s & Mike Volker’s established base and experience. The organizers of the Angel Network are independent volunteers. No judgments or opinions are expressed by either OSTEC or the Vancouver Enterprise Forum. Many companies have received funding from the Vantec network and some have already provided financial returns to angel investors. Angels' Expectations Just to make sure that our angels aren't confused with the philanthropic variety, entrepreneurs must understand that, because angels are willing to take huge risks, they also expect huge rewards. Returns on equity invested by angels are not measured in percentage points; they are measured in multiples. Indeed, angels like to get 10 or 100 times, even 1000 times, back on their money! Companies and Entrepreneurs seeking Angels The secret to making contact with this network of angels is to first find an "angel sponsor" (that's your first challenge!) and then get that angel to work with you towards getting invited to make a presentation at as upcoming meeting. See the VEF presentation on Finding Angels in B.C. for additional ideas on finding angels. Don't worry! There are many of them! Ideal companies are those requiring relatively small startup capital (e.g. around $500K) and are willing to give up 10 to 25% equity in return. Entrepreneurs should submit, via the web-site noted below, an Executive Summary. Even if you already have an executive summary, please review the suggestions to ensure completeness. The best time to make such a submission is after having found an angel sponsor as noted above. Tip: Make your case! Sharpen your "elevator pitch"! Although this summary will be held in confidence by the angel investors, care should be taken not to divulge proprietary trade secrets or sensitive information. In such cases, it is suggested that at least sufficient information be provided to stimulate investor interest leading to a preliminary meeting. All received proposals will be made available to the Angel participants and these Angels may, at their option, elect to make direct contact. Screening and Selection Entrepreneurs who have submitted their proposals will not necessarily get any feedback (unless they have a sponsoring angel) and may never hear from anyone in the angel network. For this reason it is very important that the executive summary clearly communicates what the opportunity is (this is not always easy. Good deals can be missed if they are poorly described. To ensure that a proposal was indeed received and posted, submitters may inquire via the email contact noted below. Experience has shown, though, that the mere posting of an executive summary, regardless of how good it is, generally does not produce results. Angels do not spend much time browsing for deals. A pro-active approach on the entrepreneur's part works best. Indeed, the best way to get the angels' attention is to attend various OSTEC or Vancouver Enterprise Forum events (and other industry events) to network and meet an angel who might be willing to be an advocate and sponsor (i.e. invite) a company to make a pitch to the group. Making such a connection is the BEST way to meet with angels. It's all about networking! Ideally, an angel will act as a sponsor for a given opportunity, introducing it to others. (And no - we do not provide a list of angels!) Other Resources There are a number of resources (e.g. upcoming events, marketing consultants, tutorial material, etc.) available on the OSTEC and VEF web sites to assist in preparing for meetings with investors. For example, the Money Links table on this web site identifies all types of financial assistance which is available to B.C. companies. Information on public angel forums can also be found there. The B.C. Advanced Systems Institute (http://www.asi.bc.ca/) operates its very popular and successful "Business Advisory Board" workshops which help companies better prepare their businesses for funding. You will also find many articles on angel investing at redherring.com. Rather than list all the articles here, simply enter "angels" in the search window on each of these two sites. For angels, there's a great article (Sep'01) on how to be an angel (from Harvard Business School). The T-Net offers an on-line Capital Connector and other helpful information (especially notices for local networking events) at http://www.bctechnology.com/ Finally, http://www.hitechbc.com/ has links to, hopefully, all B.C. technology organizations. "How to" Summary Please go here to register as an Angel participant or to post company information. Requests are usually processed within 24-48 hours. SUMMARY CHECKLIST:
Questions? Okanagan Contact Raghwa Gopal by email: rgopal@okangels.com "Silicon Vineyard" is a trademark of the Okanagan Science and Technology Council |
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