Tag Archives: Angel Investors

Inside The 2016 Tech Coast Angels 10th Anniversary Quick Pitch Event

Inside The 2016 Tech Coast Angels 10th Anniversary Quick Pitch Event

It’s no secret, the Tech Coast Angels is one of the largest, if not THE largest angel investor group in the nation. “Consisting of experienced CEOs, senior executives, current and former entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and other professionals, members have invested over $180 million in more than 300 companies and have helped entrepreneurs attract more than $1.6 billion in additional capital rounds,” according to the TCA Website. Regional chapters include: Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Central Coast, and the Inland Empire. Within those chapters, the San Diego John G. Watson TCA Quick Pitch Competition celebrates its ten year anniversary this year.

“The Quick Pitch Competition is one of the most recognized angel investor events in the nation, showcasing talented entrepreneurs who each have two minutes to pitch their business to an expert panel of judges and large audience of investors, business executives and community leaders,” states Qualcomm Ventures. Finalists this year showcased San Diego’s entrepreneurial diversity, showcasing companies in various industries, including life sciences, consumer products, and tech industries.

This year the event was conducted a little differently, instead of the winner being selected by the judges, the audience of 500 were privileged enough to name the 2016 Quick Pitch winner. Another incentive for entrepreneurs was the doubling of last year’s cash prize to $30,000, although the top three winners would have to divide up the cash prize. The ten judges were therefore considered coaches and provided insight and feedback to the top ten savvy startup competitors. The winners were announced following an evening of meet and greet with TCA members, quick pitch finalists, and thought leaders within the San Diego startup community. As one can imagine, these entrepreneurs were eager to hear the results, but they were able to enjoy themselves throughout the entire event.

In The Hot Seat [The Feedback]

With a panel of the top players in the San Diego Startup Community serving as coaches during the TCA Quick Pitch event, there was extensive feedback provided to each presenter. Following each two-minute pitch, judges were given three-minutes to provide constructive thoughts or ask questions to each presenter.

Top 5 Points of Feedback From the Coaches

Credibility – Highlight key experiences and certifications that make you and your team a credible player in your target space.

Traction, Traction, Traction – Clearly present metrics and data points that show how your company is gaining traction.

Customer Acquisition Cost – this is a key metric all investors are interested in. Lifetime value (LTV) is also a key metric in rationalizing your CAC by quantifying your ability to monetize customers.

Optimization – If you are allotted a specific time period, use every second as effectively as possible. Two minutes is short – asking the audience questions, spending too much time on basic company information is not a meaningful use of your time
Growth Potential – Make sure you clearly communicate current revenue as well as the big picture in Year 5; investors want profitable, scalable companies to invest in.

Mark Your Calendars

The Startup Garage is a proud sponsor of the annual TCA Quick Pitch event. For San Diego entrepreneurs, these events not only bring entrepreneurs and major Angel investing groups in the country together, but they provide an open environment to collaborate, learn, and strengthen our startup community. With the increasing number of innovative startups being created every year, these events keeps everyone up to date on ongoing trends and resources. If you are a company looking for funding, please visit the TCA website and check out their application criteria.

At TSG, we believe that entrepreneurs change the world and push the boundaries of innovation, especially when they collaborate. San Diego is an expanding ecosystem of business owners and thought leaders from all walks of life. Be sure to mark your calendars for future events similar to the TCA Quick Pitch event as they bring a multifaceted perspective on industry trends and provide insight into what it means to be an entrepreneur in a time where innovation is ever evolving.

Crowdfunding For Equity: Title III and Equity Crowd Funding 101

Business Plans and Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding For Equity: Title III and Equity Crowd Funding 101

What is Equity Crowdfunding?

Equity crowdfunding is on the rise after the signing of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act was signed by President Obama in April 2012.

Simply put, it is a type of crowdfunding that enables broad groups of investors to fund startup companies and small businesses in return for equity.

Three years after the JOBS Act was initially passed, Title IV (Regulation A+) went into effect, allowing larger companies to accept capital from both accredited investors (the wealthiest 2% of Americans) and non-accredited investors (the other 98% of Americans). This expanded when Title III (Regulation CF) was enacted in October 2015, which also allowed early stage companies to accept capital from both accredited and non-accredited investors.

More About Title III (Reg CF)

Title III allows startups and small businesses to raise up to $1M from the general public – an unprecedented way to raise capital. More specifically, investors who have less than $100,000 in both income and net worth may invest at least $2,000 per year, and as much as 5 percent of their income or net worth (whichever is less) per year.

Investors whose income or net worth is greater than $100,000 may invest up to 10 percent of their income or net worth (whichever is less) per year.

Thus, Title III gives companies that are historically underserved by the current capital markets an equal opportunity to equity financing.

On May 16th, Title III will officially go into effect.

Process

Choosing a Funding Portal

Under Title III, companies must use an online intermediary (either a broker-
dealer or crowdfunding portal registered with the SEC and FINRA), to facilitate a
fundraise. Experienced portals with a deep understanding of the regulations
surrounding Reg CF can help ensure that their campaigns are compliant with SEC rules.

Filing a Form C

Companies raising under Title III do not need to get SEC approval to initiate their
raise. They must, however, prepare a Form C and file it with the SEC 21 days prior to launching an offering. This form includes basic information about the company, its employees and the terms of the raise.

Disclosure Requirements – Financial Information

In addition to Form C, necessary financial information will depend on the size of
the intended investment needs:

 Under $100k – Internal financial statement review

 $100k-500k – CPA reviewed financial statements

 500k-1M – 3rd Party audited financial statements

 1st time crowdfunding issuers offering more than $500,000 would be permitted to provide reviewed, rather than audited, financial statements.

 Disclosure Requirements – Ongoing Reporting

Providing progress reports not only build trust with investors and keep them informed, but they’re also a very much required part of the disclosure requirements. Upon the successful closure of your campaign, you will be required to provide ongoing updates to your investors in the form of an annual report, which will include similar information that was included on the Form C.

In summary, what are the benefits and pitfalls of Title III?

Benefits:

 Title III can be an efficient way to quickly startups raise capital from the crowd

 More investors equate to more supporters in your startup

 Reporting requirements give founders and investors an opportunity to

Pitfalls:

 Current statutory disclosure obligations and costs are overly burdensome

 Legal and accounting fees may be higher than traditional capital-raising

 Title III does not include a “testing the waters” provision (like Reg A+ maintain a more open and transparent dialogue methods does) so that issuers can gauge interest before incurring burdensome filing and preparation costs

Remember, Regulation CF will become effective 180 days after the final rules are published in
the Federal Register on May 16, 2016.

If you have a question about your equity crowdfunding for your Startup or you’d like to discuss our business plan writing services, feel free to contact us for a free consultation!

Why To Take Caution With Investor “Finders”

Why To Take Caution With Investor “Finders”

There are many service providers that offer to help startups with attracting investors, colloquially referred to as “finders.”

While they prefer to be called business brokers or consultants, most finders are either CPAs, insurance brokers, retired executives, or former entrepreneurs. They mostly operate in the Angel landscape, targeting deals between $100K to $2M.

Typically, they will either require a large retainer, an upfront fee, a percentage of capital raised, or some combination of all three.

The service they provide ranges from screening investors and setup meetings to developing a list of high-net-worth prospects for entrepreneurs to call on.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of controversy when working with finders. First, a sizeable majority of finders are not actually licensed as a securities broker by FINRA and are therefore in violation of federal and state security laws, whether they know it or not. Second, many finders are not capable of delivering on their promises or simply disappear as soon as you hand them a retainer check.

How This Affects You:

The issue that Startups face when working with unlicensed finders is that their legal problems can quickly spread to the startup as well. Payments to an unlawful finders can cause an entire transaction to violate securities law, giving investors a right to undo the deal as well as sue the Startup for damages.

Even if an investor does not undo the deal, these unlawful transactions can come back to haunt the company if and when the company decides to sell or go public as it may be forced to disclose the violations, thereby jeopardizing the pending deal. On the other hand, working with less than honest finders will clearly be a waste of time and money.

Advice:

Retain a good corporate securities attorney before you engage with a finder. Your securities attorney should be able to:

A) help you understand the full scope of risk of using finders in financing transactions.

B) help you verify that your potential finder is licensed with FINRA and your local state’s regulators.

C) ensure that your finder does not have any substantial complaints against them.

If you have a question about raising capital for your Startup or you’d like to discuss our business plan writing services, feel free to contact us for a free consultation!

Business Plan Writer vs. Business Plan Strategic Consultant

Business Plan Writer vs. Business Plan Strategic Consultant

People often ask me, “What are my options for writing a business plan?”

At the highest level, there are two options, writing it yourself or hiring someone else to do it for you.

The benefits of writing the business plan yourself are that you will save money and you will learn a lot about your business by going through the research and financial modeling processes.

However, this can be a risky option if you haven’t written a business plan before and/or if you haven’t raised capital before.

It is important to have a solid understanding of the way investors see value in a company as well as the milestones they care about if you are going to be successful writing the business plan yourself.

Furthermore, even if you have a good grasp on the investors’ perspective, you often miss out on objective, third-party pushback that can elevate your business plan to the next level. Lastly, as a time-strapped entrepreneur, spending several hundred hours writing your plan probably isn’t the best use of your time as you should be focusing on developing your product, expanding your team, and establishing
awareness with your customers.

While hiring someone to write your business plan for you will save you a lot of time, the capital outlay may or may not be worth the time savings – who you hire to write your business plan will make all the difference.

Hiring a Business Plan Strategic Consultant that can elevate your plan and strategy to help increase your chance of nailing the first impression with investors is money well spent. However, hiring a Business Plan Writer that merely saves you time but doesn’t add value to your pitch is a waste.

Below we’ve provided the differences between a Business Plan Writer and a Business Plan Strategic Consultant.

Business Plan Writer

A Business Plan Writer can be half the cost, or more, of a Business Plan Strategic Consultant. Typically, these savings come at the expense of the quality of the final product (you get what you pay for type of thing).

A Business Plan Writer typically completes a business plan in far less time simply because they can only put a limited amount of time into the plan in order for their business model to be profitable.

The problem with this model is that a business plan isn’t complete once a certain amount of time has passed; a business plan is complete once all red flags and issues have been identified, addressed, and overcome.

At the end of the day, a Business Plan Writer will require you to present the content, solutions, and answers that they will plug into a cookie-cutter template. While a Business Plan Writer can certainly save you time, the plan will ultimately only be as good as the information and strategies you provide them.

Business Plan Strategic Consultant

Hiring a Business Plan Strategic Consultant is certainly more expensive than hiring a Business Plan Writer or writing the plan yourself. However, the result will pay off in the long run when it comes to providing yourself with the best chance possible of successfully raising capital.

First a foremost, a Business Plan Strategic Consultant brings specific experience and education in the startup sector beyond expertise in broad business writing.

Second, a Business Plan Strategic Consultant understands what it takes to attract capital. They have an intimate knowledge of the capitalization timeline, who invests at the various stages, and what investors need to see at each stage. They will be able to coach you on the milestones and accomplishments you should be focusing on while crafting the investment story.

Third, a Business Plan Strategic Consultant takes a holistic approach to assessing your business including monetization strategies and business models, target markets and competitive differentiation, management team and personnel plan, sales and marketing communication strategies, and more.

Fourth, a Business Plan Strategic Consultant identifies red flags and gaps in your model by asking tough questions and challenging your assumptions in a way that is constructive and educational.

Finally, a Business Plan Strategic Consultant will compile all of this information in investor friendly documentation (business plan, executive summary, pitch deck, financial projections, one-page business plan, etc) based on your specific needs and audience.

The Startup Garage is a recognized Business Plan Strategic Consultancy that helps founders raise capital and get out of the garage through proven business plan writing and startup strategy consulting services. Feel free to contact us for a free consultation!

7 Reasons Why Hera Venture Summit Is A Must Attend Startup Event

7 Reasons Why Hera Venture Summit Is A Must Attend Startup Event

On Aug 4, 2015 The White House, Tech Giants, Entrepreneurs, and Venture Capitalists across America committed to invest in the future of women in business.

A commitment that set the stage for previously untapped opportunities for female founders.

Leading the forefront of female entrepreneurship is the conglomeration of
Hera Hub= Female focused Co-working Space

Hera Labs= Female Focused Business Accelerator
Hera Fund= Female Focused Angel Investment Fund

On Saturday Sept 19th, Hera Venture Summit unveils a new face of Women in Tech Events

Below are 7 undeniable reason YOU’ll want to attend!

1. The Hera Venture Summit offers the ultimate platform for female founders and funders to discuss and collaborate in launching, growing and sustaining profitable businesses.


2. There’s not just 1 but 2 Keynote Speakers, excited to share their experience and expertise.



Elissa Shevinsky, a Startup CEO and Co-Founder at JeKuDo Privacy Company, a veteran coder, and editor of ‘Lean Out’ which encourages women to create their own culture in Tech Startups.



Consuelo Valverde, an Entrepreneur turned VC at SV LATAM Fund. At the age of 20, she founded one of the first PC manufacturing companies in Mexico and later on an IT learning institute.



3. Beautiful environments fuel inspiration. The event takes place at the University of San Diego an architectural dream, named by Travel+Leisure magazine one of the most beautiful college campuses in the United States. 


4. One-day intensive and interactive event. Often times events are spread across a weekend, 3 days, or even week long. The Hera Venture Summit takes Startup growth hacking to a new level, fully emerging everyone into the conversation in an action packed 10 hour event.

5. The theme of the event centers around “Building Bridges” both locally, binational, and globally. Holding course to the idea that through each other’s diversity comes expansion, both personally and professionally.

6. 7 Panels of unique content, covering everything from topics of gender investing and female founder ROI to how to become a female angel investor.


*Tyler Jensen founder of
The Startup Garage will be will be part of the panel


“All about the Financials.”

7. Happy Hour, the event concludes with the ultimate networking opportunity over cocktails. The perfect place to share insights gained throughout the day, and make life long connections.

Now that you’ve decided to join us be sure to say hello to The Startup Garage Team!

Tickets can be bought here>> Hera Venture Summit 9/19

Feel free to enter promo code startupgarage40off for $40 off this once in a lifetime event.

28 Essential Hashtags To Use For Your Startup Business

28 Essential Hashtags To Use For Your Startup Business

Hashtags or the #symbol were originally created as a way to categorize messages, making it easier for users to find messages with a specific theme or content.

Hashtags ultimately help connect your Startup Business with an audience that shares similar interests, views, and insights.

When used routinely along with captivating relevant content, hashtags have the power to unleash tremendous value for your social network.

The hashtag list below includes hashtags that are in the “sweet spot” for growing your sphere of influence on both Twitter and Instagram.

These are hashtags that have been used over 2,000 times but less than 10,000. Therefore, they’re well known hashtags, yet not overly trending at this time. This sweet spot will allow for making it more likely your Startup’s content won’t get lost in the noise.

Funding: Hashtags relevant to raising capital for your Startup.

    #PrivateEquity
    #GetFunded
    #VentureCapital
    #Bootstrapping

Life: Hashtags relevant to the day to day working of Startups.

    
#TechStartup
    #StartupGrind
    #StartupBusiness
    #StartupCompany
    #StartupQuotes
    #StartupProblems
    #LeanStartup

Entrepreneurship: Hashtags relevant to being a Startup Entrepreneur.

    #EntrepreneursOfInstagram
    #Entrepreneursmindset
    #HappyFounders
    #FemaleEntrepreneur
    #WomeninTech

Business:Hashtags relevant to the business components of a Startup.

    #BusinessStartups
    #BusinessTips

Culture: Hashtags relevant to the culture and Startup environment.

    #SharingEconomy
    #TechnologyTuesday
    #InternetofThings
    #HustleHardWednesday
    #SharktankNation
    #TechnologyTuesday
    #WearableTech/#WearableTechnology

Trending: These are very popular and widely used Startup Hashtags.

They fall outside the scope of the “sweet spot” but are still worth leveraging.

    #Entrepreneurship
    #SiliconValley
    
#StartupWeekend
    #Startuplife

    #Innovative
    #SharkTank
    #Entrepreneur/ #Entrepreneurs
If you have a question about your Startup business idea or you’d like to discuss our business plan writing services, feel free to contact us for a free consultation!

7 Lessons Learned From A Vegas Tech Startup Conference

Collision Con From The Startup Garage

7 Lessons Learned From A Vegas Tech Startup Conference

“ It’s A different kind of Vegas.”

Collision Conference invaded and innovated downtown Las Vegas, Nevada Cinco De May and 6th.

The 48 hour “crash course” included 7500 attendees representing 89 different countries, with a legendary guest-list that included: 200 WorldClass Speakers, 1000 Startup Businesses, 451 Tech Investors, and countless “smart” entrepreneurs.

Equally as interesting to the individuals that attended the conference, was where the event took place, “The Downtown Project” (Psst..If you haven’t heard this name get familiar with it, you’ll be hearing a lot about it.)

It’s there, just 6 miles from the infamous Las Vegas Strip, a small Startup town is brewing. The cutting edge urban revival project was heavily invested ($350million) in by Zappos frontman and startup cultural icon, Tony Hsieh.

His business model; to create a community of happiness, in an other wise depressed and dilapidated city centre… which leads us into lesson #1.

Lesson #1 Recognize potential and invest in it’s possibilities.

Startups Entrepreneurs are familiar with taking risks and getting comfortable in the uncomfortable. Tony Hsieh didn’t see the “Fremont Experience” and think let’s avoid this rundown area at all costs. Instead he said let’s immerse our company, culture and entrepreneurial energy into the infrastructure, and make old bones dance.

Lesson #2 Conferences, especially tech. conferences, need female minds in attendance.

Collision Conference acknowledged the fact that tech conferences tend to be sausage fests, and did something Different. They invited the top 150 females in technology to attend the conference complimentary, there by subtly shifting the dynamics of a male centric space.

Lesson #3 There’s an organic type of networking, it’s called Collision.

A Collision with another person, moves away from the hunt and gather mentality of standard networking events, and allows for the natural serendipity of individuals paths to cross.
Colliding with the right people at right place, and the right time, can become a natural and common occurrence.

Lesson #4 Never underestimate the power of food and lasting impressions.

Each morning upon entering the “event” attendees were treated to freshly baked blueberry muffins. The DoubleTree may have started this trend with freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, but the result remains the same… A feeling of being welcomed, comforted, and wanting to return for more.

Lesson #5 Collaboration is the easiest way to breed successful innovations.

In the chaotic sea of 1000+ Startup Businesses prepping and pitching to investors and want to be investors for funding and mentorship. I found myself wondering, how many of the Startup entrepreneurs conversed and collided with one another to exchange ideas and information? (please tweet us @startup_garage if you have a great Startup to Startup Collision story)

It seems that Collision Conference was the perfect landscape for new startup business ideas to emerge, and preexisting ones to flourish with new insights. However, my experience was everyone was there with laser focus in the hopes swooning the VC or Angel.

Lesson #6 You can’t talk Marketing without the other M word… Millennials.

#Millennials isn’t just a trending hashtag, they’re a population of 77 million people, 1/4 of the American population, who are socially and economically savvy. Millennials have big brands via-ing for their attention and approval. As a generation with an insatiable appetite for quality content and the Tinder mindset (swipe left and move onto the next) marketing power is shifting into the hands of the consumer.

Lesson #7 Innovation never sleeps.

Innovative ideas and solutions have no On and Off switch, they’re a constant switching in the mind of Startup entrepreneurs. It’s not enough that there’s a solution, the questions remains whether it’s the smartest and most effective solution possible.

There’s Startup towns brewing, do you hear it percolating?

A Tech Startup conference shifted my perception of Vegas from an epicenter of gambling, strippers, and intentional debauchery to a sustainable community of like-minded entrepreneurs, that when colliding together, have ability to transform even the most unsuspecting places.

Startup Business Funding Report 2014

Startup Business Funding Report 2014

The past year has been an eventful one for Startup Businesses in their quest to raise capital.

Venture Capitalists, Angel Investors, and Peer-to-Peer Crowdfunding soared in 2014, breathing new life into uncertain economy.

    Venture Capital Roundup

According to the PitchBook Platform 88 billion dollars in venture capital was infused into the global economy in 2014. Beating out any other single year ever, including the dot.com era.

Silicon Valley continues to reign supreme as the most competitive market to raise VC funding in, while hometown hero Uber took the largest 2 VC deals at 1.2 billion each.

On the east coast, the city that never sleeps, NYC is also thriving in the innovation economy, coming in 2nd in United States venture capital hubs. With the biggest VC backed deal going to coworking space, WeWork, with $355million dollars in funding.

It’s fair to say the venture capital ecosystem had an incredible run in 2014, transforming software startups into “unicorns” and providing hope and opportunity in the face of aversion. Whether or not all the risk will bring sustainable long-term rewards will become more evident in years to come.

    Angel Investment Roundup

2014 found Angel investors and groups becoming more prominent on and offline for early stage startups. At this time the Halo Reports Q4 report for 2014 is still being compiled, however we anticipate a steady increase in investments similar to previous quarters.

In Q2 alone 206 deals were funded totally $594million.
Pre-money valuation continued to rise jumping to $3 million in Q2, while Healthcare and Internet funding continues to be the most heavily funded industries.

Across the board opportunities to #GetFunded are abundant amongst individual Angels and Angel Groups globally. While with in the US, California, New England, and Texas have the most active investment networks.

    Crowdfunding Roundup

Crowdfunding is rapidly changing the landscape of Startup funding, and doesn’t appear to be slowing down. At the close of 2014, crowdfunding is estimated to add at least 270,000 jobs and inject more than $65 billion into the global economy, according to estimates from crowdfunding platform Fundable. 2014 turned platforms like Kickstarter and IndieGogo into household names. On Kickstarter alone 3.3 million people globally pledged more than ½ billion dollars last year, which is equivalent to $1,000 per minute. The funding brought to life 22,252 creative projects, exploding the alternative-funding platform.

Its clear Crowdfunding is disrupting how investors find opportunity and where entrepreneurs fuel their startup ideas. For the first time in history anyone can be an entrepreneur, investor, or both and the trend has yet to reach its tipping point.

    2015 & The Future of Capital Raising

2015 is sure to be a year of that will go down in history for innovative Startups and investment opportunities. The Startup Garage anticipates the following achievements in the next year: more women in the tech and the venture capital spotlight, emphasis on entrepreneurship and education with in academic institutions, and a rapidly expanding Startup Ecosystem.

If you have a question about your Startup Funding or you’d like to discuss our business plan writing services, feel free to contact us for a free consultation!

Why A Business Plan Is Essential When Crowdfunding Your Startup

Business Plans and Crowdfunding

Why A Business Plan Is Essential When Crowdfunding Your Startup

Letting the crowd fund your startup doesn’t mean allowing your business plan to go unwritten.

In the business world, approximately 543,000 new businesses get started each month and funding those businesses comes from a variety of sources.

Most recently, startups are beginning to utilize crowdfunding sites to promote their ventures and raise the capital they need through online platforms.

Similar to the popular TV show Shark Tank, startups have the opportunity to present their business to a number of “backers” who can potentially finance their business. Such crowdfunding websites are making it easier for new business owners to spread the word of their company and search for possible investors.

On the flipside websites like Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and Fundable are allowing for investors to check out a multitude of emerging businesses for possible fruitful endeavors, which leads us to….


5 Reasons Why A Business Plan Is Essential When Crowdfunding Your Startup

1) A business plan will be used as a blueprint for your crowdfunding campaign.

It will help define the purpose of your business/project, how it will operate, specify the exact amount of capital needed, and it how it will reward/benefit those that invest. These details are the key ingredients necessary for a successfully funded campaign.

2) A business plan is a SYSTEM (S)aves (Y)ou (S)tress
(T)ime (E)nergy and (M)oney when building and launching your business, both on and offline. Going through the process ahead of time, can prevent and even correct mistakes that might have otherwise gone overlooked.

3) A business plan is one of the most compelling marketing tools available to enroll others in your mission. After all, a crowdfunding campaign is only as successful as it’s amount of supporters.

4) A business plan will be used as an internal tool for you business as well, guiding your company through the first 3-5 years. Following this document with in your business will provide structure and stability, even during the most uncertain of times.

5) Eventually crowdfunding capital runs dry, and you need to look for your next funding source. Most likely that would be an angel investor, an individual who typically invest between $25,000- $100,000 of their own money. Angel investors want to see facts and figures. They want a well thought out business plan, one that demonstrates you have taken the time to do research, plan and organize your startup business. Exemplifying less risk and more return on investment.

2015 will be a revolutionary year for crowdfunding; with current trends stating an average of 325 new crowdfunding campaigns launching everyday.

This means investment opportunities and competition for funding are expanding at a rapid pace. Are you ready to #GetFunded?

Don’t let your business plan remain unwritten.

If you have a question about your Startup or you’d like to discuss our business plan writing services, feel free to contact us for a free consultation!

Angel Investments Soar in the U.S. Along with the Tech Coast Angels

Angel Investments Soar in Q1 along with Tech Coast Angels

Angel Investments Soar in the U.S. Along with the Tech Coast Angels

The Q1 2014 Halo Report was released recently by the Angel Resource Institute, Silicon Valley Bank and CB Insights

In a collaborative effort to raise awareness of early-stage investment activities by angel investors the Halo Report researches and analyzes angel investment activities and trends in North America.

This quarter’s report card will one most investors in the U.S. will be proud to share.

“Median angel round size increases to $980k, while pre-money valuations rise to $2.7 million in the quarter”

What’s this mean for Startups looking to raise capital?

It is one of the best times in history to get funded.
Especially, if your startup relates to the Internet, Healthcare, or Mobile, which make up 71.5 % of deals in the quarter.

“Opportunities are great for startups seeking funding today,” said Rob Wiltbank, Vice Chairman of Research, Angel Resource Institute.

Are you a California based Startup? Consider your ability to get funded that much more likely. California angels invested heavily locally accounting for 1/3 of all deals.

One investor network, Tech Coast Angels, seized the spotlight and proves that “your network, is your net worth.” Tech Coast Angels secured the “strongest network” spot on the Q1 Halo Report out of 370 angel groups, alluding to their greater ability to raise capital, as well as offer strategic expertise in a given area.

Perhaps this is due to their investor membership application process itself, which puts network and community 1st and money 2nd.

“You might think it’s to make money, but for many of us it’s a way to give back to the community, to help build successful companies and to participate in the satisfaction that comes from this involvement. And we hope to make money, too.”

Tech Coast Angels claims to be largest angel investor network in the Nation. Since 1997, and TCA has helped their portfolio companies attract more than $1.4 billion in additional funding. TCA is a catalyst in helping build Southern California’s economy into a thriving center of technology and entrepreneurship.

Feeling inspired and ready to #GetFunded?
Tech Coast Angels is hosting a quick pitch competition in San Diego Thursday Sept 25th, 2014.

Quick Pitch is a must attend event for entrepreneurs looking to jump-start their ventures and for investors seeking to learn about the latest innovations in Southern California. Be sure to say hello to The Startup Garage team at the event!

Whether you have a question about your pitch or you’d like to discuss our business plan writing services, feel free to contact us for a free consultation!