Online (UK) Angel Investment community to the rescue [kwiqq]

Posted on | October 22, 2008 | View Comments

Image by david_terrar via Flickr

During the economic turmoil companies are feeling the pinch, especially startups. Many entrepreneurs aren’t sure how they would pursue the projects they have been working of for the last few weeks. This is where Angels come in nicely. Angel investors are generally serial entrepreneurs who have some money to invest in new business ideas.

The bonus of having an angel involved, from my personal experience, is that they not only put money but advice, time and bring in their contacts. So how the hell do you find them ?

• Networking: Most Angels won’t call themselves angels or investors but entrepreneurs. They will be networking for their other business and you would just bump into them one day. That’s the beauty of networking. We found our Angel investors through networking, although like always you need to invest time and resources to building a relationship.
• Introductions: “My wealthy friend is looking to invest in social media technology startups”.. You just know when you hear that there is a massive opportunity waiting round the corner for you. Again it is a relation building exercise and if the idea is in line with their strategy, then you have got yourself some investment.

An angel once advised me ‘Raising capital is like dating. You meet this person for a drink and arrange to meet another time…. In the next meeting you do the same. One day there will be a handshake and a signed cheque with your name written on it.’ I guess this is why they say investors invest in people!

Right so if you know no wealthy friends who are looking to invest in a social media technology startup then perhaps social networking could be your solution. Below we have listed 5 communities where you can find investors. Most of these communities require you to invest some sort of money (most around £100) upfront, which is actually a good thing (Why? details below):

1) Angels Den: Angels Den allows has a network of more than 1700 investors and will introduce you to investors directly. You will be charged £499 for presenting your ideas to investors over 3 steps, one of which will involve a video conference which AngelsDen. I personally feel it is great that they are charging entrepreneurs which filters out time wasters. If the quality of entrepreneurs are good investors would pay more attention to each application

2) Angelsoft (US based): Is sort of a Digg for business ideas whereby entrepreneurs submit their ideas. If an investor gets excited, then they will post the deal inside the community to close the round of funding. The cost of posting your idea is $250 for 30 days. It seems a little less personal although with 10,000 angels and 400 angel group this could be a lucrative option for entrepreneurs.

3) AngelInvestmentNetwork: This site again charges a sign up fee but only if an investor likes your proposal and wants to discuss it further. The cost for the initial introduction is £99 although for £30 extra, you can get access to Premium services (I’m not exactly sure what they are)

4) VentureGiant: Has a pay on performance model whereby the entrepreneur pays £99 if the investors wishes to make contact with the busienss owner. The pitch would then sit on the website for 6 months if other investors are interested.

5) Company Partners: Allows you to find ventures (for investors), entrepreneurs / businesses or mentors on the site. The company’s model is subscription based, the monthly costs starts at £14.99. This is interesting as none of the other websites mentioned above have focused on mentoring as one of things they offer.

6) Venture Cast: The site allows you to signup for free and put your proposal online. Although for additional features such as contacting investors directly, attending webcast, posting videose etc users need to pay a modest fee of $29.95 per month.

Obviously none of this guarantees investment in your venture and you would need to make sure your business plan is water tight. But more than anything you need to get your elevator pitch right becuase without that no amount of investment in these sites would get you an introduction with the investor.

Related articles

• The Insider Secrets of Angel Investing
• The Myth of the Angel Investor
• Counterpoint: It’s Time for Venture Capital – Now More Than Ever

Comments