An East Valley initiative recently launched to identify, educate and activate 250 people within three years to become active angel investors in early-stage funding for mainly East Valley tech startups.
Original Article via Phoenix Business Journal
The PHX East Valley Angel Investor Initiative is a regional collaboration between Chandler’s economic development division, Phoenix-based Arizona Tech Investors, and East Valley Partnership, a coalition of civic, business, educational and political leaders dedicated to the economic development and promotion of the east valley.
The goal is to grow the number of accredited angel investors who are active in the East Valley and fill the gap in funding needs for East Valley startups involved in technology and life sciences, said Micah Miranda, Chandler’s economic development director.
Any other interested groups who want to help drive angel investing are welcome to join the initiative, Miranda added.
“We’re really good at generating ideas and patentable products through innovation. We have a lot of brilliant business people,” he said. “But one component identified needing help in is access to early-stage capital for individuals to scale their company.”
Angel investors invest their own money in startup companies in exchange for an equity share of the business. An individual angel investor may invest as little as $5,000 in a business, while an angel group may pool their capital to make a larger investment.
Accredited investors, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, have either a net worth of $1 million, personal annual income of at least $200,000 or family annual income of at least $300,000.
While Chandler is taking the lead with the initiative, eight other East Valley cities’ economic development departments are involved in some aspect. Those cities are Tempe, Mesa, Apache Junction, Queen Creek, Gilbert, Chandler, Fountain Hills and Maricopa, said John Lewis, CEO of the East Valley Partnership.
“After meeting with economic development directors to see how the partnership can assist them, they all needed capital,” said Lewis, the former Gilbert mayor. “(Infusionsoft CEO and co-founder) Clate Mask also talked a lot about entrepreneurs succeeding and needing more capital. We took that thought and decided we needed to try and find more angel investors to help companies in Arizona, specifically in the East Valley.”
The ASU Chandler Innovation Center will host six free workshops during the next six months for prospective investors to learn how to structure a deal, how to determine if the company is worth investing in and investing trends.
The first workshop will be from 5 to 6 p.m. Oct. 4 and cover “Winners: #PHXEastValley Successful Startups.” Interested angel investors need to register for the workshops.
Jim Goulka, managing director of Arizona Tech Investors, will lead the workshops, which are focused on people who have not invested before.
“More angel investors is good for what we do,” Goulka said. “We need more investors who can put more money locally in companies.”
The initiative also plans to establish a PHX East Valley Sidecar Fund for angel investors who want to get involved but might want to be more passive investors in the startup scene. The fund will be managed by Arizona Tech Investors and will offer a pooled investment opportunity.