Angel Insights Blog

Steve has also been an active member at ACA as he is a member of the ACA Marketing Committee, an instructor in Angel University, and has participated in various ACA Summit roles. His smile, wit, and intellect are all on full display as he undertakes whatever task is presented to him. He is a true leader in so many ways.

ACA believes in the impact and benefits of angel investing to entrepreneurs, job growth and the economy. Deeply active on the federal legislative and regulatory fronts, ACA helps safeguard and galvanize the rights of American angel investors so that we can protect the foundation that fuels the startup economy. ACA represents our members, but we invite investors to lend their efforts - a combined voice matters.

As the catalyst for companies at the earliest stages, we recognize that access to resources and opportunities needed to pursue founding a company are not equitably distributed in society.

The Angel Capital Association (ACA) has received an $123k award from the National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIPs) designed to catalyze private investment in the Deep Tech Sector. This project is designed to better educate the early stage investor community on the benefits of Deep Tech investments with the intention of increasing the amount of private capital available for deployment in the Deep Tech sector. Grant activities will focus on the ten technology areas identified in the Chips and Science Act.

The SEC’s Accredited Investor Definition has been in place since 1982. This requirement uses two measures of wealth as surrogates for sophistication as an investor, as well as attempts to mitigate possible negative consequences of what is admittedly a risky asset class.

The Angel Capital Association (ACA), the world’s largest association of angel investors, has announced that Columbus, Ohio will host its 2024 Summit of Angel Investing. The three-day flagship event brings together new and experienced angel investors and business leaders from around the country to explore critical topics facing the angel investing community.

We sincerely appreciate the many contributions our Angel Capital Association (ACA) members, Angel Groups and other donors have made and continue to make to the Seed the Future (STF) Campaign. Since launching publicly in 2022, the Angel Investor Foundation (AIF) has raised over $1.4M towards the set $2.3M goal. With this generous support we have begun taking mission driven action and we are excited to update you on our progress.

On August 23, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) adopted a number of new rules (the “New Rules”) under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the “Advisers Act”). The New Rules are designed by the SEC to increase investor visibility into adviser practices and to address certain practices that could lead to investor harm. The New Rules impact three categories of investment advisers: (i) all registered investment advisers, (ii) registered investment advisers (“RIAs”) that advise private funds, and (iii) advisers (both registered and non-registered) that advise private funds.

The reasons for failure are diverse, but almost never due to fraud. Unfortunately, the intense media coverage of a few spectacular failures such as Theranos and FTX (and the fraud associated with them) have sadly led many policy makers in Washington DC to conclude that fraud is rampant in this asset class and therefore further regulation is necessary to help “protect” investors. This perception is a remarkable misunderstanding, and this article will present data and analysis to set the record straight.

This is Part II of a two-part series on Revenue-Financed Capital (RFC) for angels. Part I addressed the question of when RFC might be appropriate to meet some of the capital needs of angel portfolio companies. This post discusses why RFC may be appropriate for angel portfolios.