Archive for September 2015

This post originally appeared on Forbes.com

Editor’s Note:  ACA’s annual Fall workshop, now called the Angel Insights Exchange, will be in New Orleans on November 9-10.  We picked New Orleans not only for its iconic activities and food, but because it has a growing entrepreneurial vibrance.  Here’s a taste of the city’s growth in the form of the NO/LA Angel Network.

Despite the devastation Hurricane Katrina caused 10 years ago, the huge disaster that hit New Orleans brought a silver lining. With a giant microscope on the area, young people were drawn to New Orleans and the surrounding region to help.

In the years immediately following Katrina, young people turned out in droves. They came to volunteer, to rebuild and to educate children, but then something interesting happened. Many liked the area and stayed. Their friends came too. Over time all these new NO/LA (New Orleans/ Louisiana) residents perpetuated an explosion of entrepreneurial activity—something the area desperately needed.

By: Ed Cox, CEO of everyStory

The stages of funding, it is said over and over, go as follows: friends and family, then angels, then venture capitalists. It’s a familiar framework to any entrepreneur trying to launch a startup.

However, should every entrepreneur trying to raise money assume that oft-repeated path is actually the best path? Absolutely not. Entrepreneurs should not determine their companies’ sources of funding based on tradition or assumptions. Rather they should base them on the intention and goals of those companies.

In fact, entrepreneurs should stop thinking of funding in “stages” altogether. What’s listed above are funding “avenues” that should be considered simultaneously – and could also be pursued simultaneously. In a world of rapidly developing crowdfunding sources, the way to raise money has expanded well beyond those customary staples.

By: Marianne Hudson, ACA Executive Director

Today we send a special congratulations to our sister organization, the Angel Resource Institute, which is now the Angel Resource Institute at Willamette University.  ARI and Willamette University have developed this new joint venture, which should be a good result for ACA members, and angels and entrepreneurs in general.  More information about the joint venture is here.

As ARI Chairman, Michael Cain, said, “There is a natural fit between our two organizations. This partnership allows us to provide better service, enhance our research, and expand our training offering.”

By: Marianne Hudson, ACA Executive Director

ACA members are getting very good at working together to fund interesting deals.  The latest example:  six member groups from literally all corners of the US were part of a $12 million series B financing.  The investment in Cognition Therapeutics was led by Golden Seeds (New York and many cities), and included ACA members Cowtown Angels (Fort Worth), Maine Angels, PLSG Accelerator Fund (Pittsburgh), Tech Coast Angels (Southern California), and Ariel Southeast Angel Partners (Savannah), as well as additional life sciences investors.  Cognition Therapeutics (CogRx) is focused on discovering and developing disease-modifying therapies for Alzheimer’s and related neurodegenerative diseases. Read the full press release below for all the details.

By Krista Tuomi, Associate Professor, American University

European crowdfunding laws and experience provide some background on how crowdfunding might work in the US. One of my earlier blogs dealt with some implications of equity crowdfunding for angels, drawing on the experience of Sweden and the UK. It highlighted some concerns about crowdfunding, particularly the low success rates for complex products and those that require follow on financing.  Despite tax and co-funding sweeteners, repeat investment has been low.  Only 17% of Swedes crowdfunded more than once, slightly lower than the 24% reported by a Scottish Crowdcube survey.  Another oft-mentioned concern is that “naïve” investors will get burned, leading to regulatory backlash.  Recent events in Germany may be a test case of this.

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ACA On the Road by Angel Capital Association  on  March 11
ACA Announces Keynote Speaker for Summit: Kwame Anku by Angel Capital Association  on  March 08