Angel investors have the noble pursuit of growing early stage companies.
Whether by nurturing and/or investing in promising deals, our end game is the hope of high return, be that in the form of financial or more intrinsic rewards.
Angel investing also makes a significant impact on the wider economy. One of the key impacts is employment creation and growth. Companies on average have five employees at the point of Angel investment. Employment (as well as assets and revenue) more than triples by the third year after Angel investment.
Angel Investing is an exciting journey in which investors are kept at the forefront of new technologies over a broad range of industries and are always broadening your experience by exposure to someone or something new.
Enterprise Angels members have invested in diminutive crispy apples, disruptive employee engagement solutions, stream processing solutions for Big Data, Health Screening tech, electric bikes, life extending enzymes, Mass Audience activation, animal health advances, the humble loud speaker reinvented, microbe gold mining, AI customer service and so much more.
Who are Angel Investors?
Angel Investors are savvy business people who have the understanding, experience, skills and money required to help companies grow.
They may have successfully built their own or other businesses to exit stage in the past, or have available funds from past business success, and the time and drive to help.
They need to qualify as a Wholesale Investor under the FMCA 2013 Schedule 1, read here for more.
What do Angel Investors Do?
They are always on the look out for businesses that have the potential for significantly higher returns than they would see from investments in established companies.
Activities then range from mentoring founders, guiding or preparing them for the capital raising journey, investing, and providing expertise in many many areas including international markets, governance, senior management, sales, finance, technology and operations that when combined with board positions with the businesses help steer them in the direction of success.
What do Angel Investors look for in early stage companies?
Generally speaking, the majority of Angel deals offer unique intellectual property, a significant market opportunity, creative founders and an innovative product or service.
How much do Angels invest?
In New Zealand, Angel investment in companies is typically between $250,000 and $1,000,000. Investment amounts for individual Angel investors will typically be in the range of $10,000 to $50,000 per investment.
Why are Angel Investors important?
When Angel Investors invest in early-stage companies, the capital is most often put to use in product development, hiring staff, purchasing equipment, and other activities required to grow a business.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) highlights the important role Angel Investors play filling the gap that lies between seed stage (often funded by company founders, friends and family, universities and research institutes) and venture capital funds (i.e. typically above $3 million).
How to become an Angel Investor?
Any investor knows that one of the keys to investing success is to diversify. It’s no different with angel investing. You should build a portfolio of early-stage investments.
The best way to get involved in investing in startups is in a risk adjusted manner is via a fund. A fund will give you access to a portfolio of different startups, and you can learn from the experience of proven Fund Mangers, who will screen companies and make investment decisions on your behalf.
EA Funds are a great tool to diversify your portfolio in this exciting asset class and help form and grow some of NZ’s most innovative companies. Currently, Enterprise Angels manages three funds, EA Fund 1, EA Fund 2. and EA Fund 3 which are now all closed and almost fully invested.
Enterprise Angels continues to provide this important funding option for entrepreneurs and investors with EA Fund 4.
Find out more about EA Fund 4 here.
Get in touch!
We welcome engagement from anyone interested or involved in the early stage investment market – Investors, Angel Members, Strategic or Corporate Partners, Founders, Incubators or Accelerators, Deal Referrers, Acquisition Partners etc.