Angel Investor

An angel investor is a wealthy person who independently invests his or her own money in a startup company. Angel investors typically take convertible debt or equity in exchange for their investment. Angel investment occurs in the early stages of a company’s development; as early as the prototyping phase before even modest revenue has been realized. As compared to other rounds of investment, angel rounds have significant variability from company to company and often reflect the idiosyncrasies of the investors. For instance, an angel investor may have a unique interest in the company’s business and wish to serve in an advisory role to the company’s founders. Angel investors and companies typically meet each other through networking events, pitch competitions and existing professional connections. Angel investors take on extremely risky investments and are usually subject to dilution from future investment rounds. Therefore, angel investors demand high returns on investment on short time scales through defined exit strategies. 8-10x return over the course of 3-5 years are typical terms. Recently, networks of angel investors have arisen that provide more organized opportunities for companies to find investors. These networks typically do not pool funds or employee centralized management that would be typical of a venture capital group. Angel investors have also begun using new state and federal crowdfunding rules as an alternative to investment through private placements, as the systemized disclosures made by companies under the crowdfunding regimes can simplify due diligence and help mitigate risk.