PHX East Valley Angel Investor Initiative

A regional partnership to catalyze economic growth by raising awareness of the importance of angel investing and enhancing access to early-stage funding for PHX East Valley tech startups.

Identify. Educate. Activate.

An Angel is an individual who invests his or her own money in startup companies in exchange for an equity share of the businesses. An individual Angel may invest as little as $5,000 in a business while an angel group may pool their capital to make a much larger investment. In addition to capital, Angels often invest time in entrepreneurs to help them grow their businesses. Return on investment is made when the entrepreneur successfully grows the business and exits it, generally through a sale or merger.

Each Angel is motivated by a different set of factors. The following are some of the typical reasons why Angels choose to invest:

  • Help entrepreneurs
  • Continue using skills and experience
  • Give back to local community
  • An active form of investing
  • Generate return on investment

Angel Investing has a positive, measurable impact on startup success. In 2016, angel investments helped create nearly 264,000 jobs in the United States. Moreover, startups receiving angel funding are more likely to:

  • Survive after 4 years
  • Grow to 75 employees
  • Receive venture capital funding

Investing in technology startups is risky. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has established “accredited investor” criteria to help ensure that angels are sophisticated investors, have access to resources needed to perform due diligence, and can afford to lose invested funds. Investors self-certify. The criteria are as follows:

  • Net worth: $1M, or
  • Annual personal income: $200k, or
  • Family income: $300k

This initiative is for anyone who meets the accredited investor definition and wants to invest in PHX East Valley tech startups. Angels can invest solo or as part of an angel group.

Arizona Tech Investors (ATI) is a key partner in this initiative and is accepting new members. The group has investor documents and procedures in place to facilitate successful investing. Members can be as active or passive in the investing process as they choose. More passive angels may wish to invest via the PHX East Valley Sidecar Fund.

Managed by ATI, the PHX East Valley Sidecar Fund will be a pooled investment vehicle dedicated to investing in PHX East Valley tech startups. Deals will be presented to sidecar investors after other ATI members have performed due diligence and invested. Each sidecar investor will then have the opportunity to invest on the same terms.

Interested in taking your first steps toward becoming a PHX East Valley Angel Investor? Connect with us by filling out the form below:

Someone from our team will be in touch with you shortly!

We Are Seeking Individuals Interested in Becoming PHX East Valley Angel Investors.

A series of free workshops will be held in January/February 2019 to provide the knowledge and tools needed to start investing.

  • How investment decisions are made
  • How deals are structured
  • How to build a diverse portfolio
  • How exits occur, generating ROI

But most importantly, how YOU can generate return on investment while helping to grow businesses in our region.

These workshops are for anyone who wants to invest in PHX East Valley tech startups and is an “accredited investor” per the definition set by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. To be an accredited investor, individuals must have a net worth over $1M (excluding value of primary residence), or annual personal income over $200k, or annual family income over $300k.

While it is recommended that participants attend each workshop, it is not required.

We will be holding three 2-hour workshop sessions. Each session is free and will from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. at the LaunchPoint (245 W. 2nd St.) in Downtown Mesa.

Google Directions

January 9th, 2019

WORKSHOP FOCUS

  • Winners: #PHXEastValley Successful Startups: The PHX East Valley is home to some of Arizona’s top startups. Hear the stories of how they started and how local angel investors helped accelerate them to success by investing in their newly formed businesses. And meet founders of some local startups early on their paths to offer new products to solve customer problems.
  • How to Evaluate a Startup with No Revenue: It wasn’t all that long ago that we lived without Google, Amazon, Facebook, or Uber. Yet all of these changed the world. Each started out as a brainstorm by a few individuals that were first funded by Angels before becoming the most valuable companies on earth. Their Angel Investors and current Angel Investors use the same techniques to evaluate opportunities — learn these techniques.

Click Here to Register to Attend

January 23rd, 2019

WORKSHOP FOCUS

  • Is This Company Worth It? Angel Investors are scarce and entrepreneurs seeking capital are abundant. That means that investors can select which companies are attractive enough to invest in. “Attractive Enough” has two parts:  the company prospects have to be good (as discussed in Session 2) and the economic outcome must be sufficiently high to justify the allocation of funds to a particular opportunity. Learn the techniques for valuing opportunities that have no direct history and where to each opportunity fits into a portfolio of investment opportunities — Learn these techniques.
  • Setting the Terms of a Deal: Investing in a startup is not like investing in a NYSE or NASDAQ listed company: once in, you’re in for an extended period.  Since Angels can’t get out of an investment quickly, learn how they structure their investments to reduce the risk and help a company become successful.

Click Here to Register to Attend

February 6th, 2019

WORKSHOP FOCUS

  • Trends in Investing, with a Nod to Venture Capital: Startups are emerging in Arizona in software, semiconductors, medical devices and other fields all the time.  Arizona is not Silicon Valley and Silicon Valley is not the entire U.S.  Some trends apply everywhere; others are localized, and all of them matter. Learn which comparisons are important and which are not. And learn how Angels and VCs are dependent upon each other… to a point.
  • Angel Investing – Doing It: Individuals invest as Angels in several ways: alone or together in groups sharing intelligence. They can be active or passive. They can have a little of each. Learn the differences and how to take action that suits you.

Click Here to Register to Attend

PHX East Valley Angel Investor Initiative is a Partnership Between

PHX East Valley Communities » Arizona Tech Investors » East Valley Partnership

Join Us in Making a Difference.

Become a PHX East Valley Angel Investor.