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How Angel Investors Need To Raise Investment In Startups

Thursday, 14 July 2022, 17:34 IST
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Angels are the unsung heroes of emerging company successes. These individuals stand on the sidelines, coaching the entrepreneurial team and offering advice, support, and finance to help the new firm survive the turbulent months and years it takes to reach critical mass, profitability, and sustainability as they have been high net-worth individuals who have privately invested in new start-ups or the early formative stage of emerging ventures with little publicity of their involvement. In the early stages of corporate growth, biotechnology entrepreneurs can attract funding from a particular category of investors. Nowadays, the situation is different; over the past 50 years, the number of Angels has dramatically increased. This increase has come from greater spending power in the established professions, and much has come from cashed-up entrepreneurs from the explosive growth in high tech industries.

They are called angels because the funding they provide often seems heaven sent at a time when the friends-and-family money is exhausted and the company has not yet developed the products or revenue to attract later stage investors. Many angels investors are wealthy individuals who believe in the entrepreneur or have a close personal interest in the products or Missions of the companies they support. Funding the transformation of a technical breakthrough into a commercial success is one of the most significant challenges facing the bio entrepreneur. With the right strategies in place, bio entrepreneurs can increase the odds that their companies will end up on the side of the angels. Angel investing is about passion, as it gets involved because they enjoy helping early-stage businesses, mentoring young entrepreneurs, and developing the industry.

Funding The Transformation Of A Technical Breakthrough Into A Commercial Success Is One Of The Most Significant Challenges Facing The Bio Entrepreneur


Persuasive Business Plan
Angel investors may take more significant risks. Unlike traditional debt financers, angel investors aren’t beholden to banks or other institutions. They allow them to invest their money much more freely. As such, angel investors may be likelier to take investment risks virtually unheard of among banks and traditional debt financing providers.

The key to an investable business is more about executing a business plan over a limited period to achieve the exit conditions. That might be a stated level of revenue and profit rather than developing a sophisticated marketing plan for market domination. Alternatively, it might be in preparing a product or service for a strategic buyer’s market.

The company can take less risk. Often, angel investors don’t require repayment if your company fails. This arrangement is far less risky than funding your company through business loans or other debt financing routes that require a refund no matter how your company fares. Angel investors are knowledgeable. When an angel investor funds your company, you get access to the knowledge your investor has accrued and can use it to grow your own company. Most angel investors didn’t just magically acquire massive amounts of money they had to learn a ton to grow their wealth. This background can prove especially helpful if your company is a start-up. Although 9 in 10 startups fail, angel investor knowledge can make your company the one success story.

What do angel investors look for in the company
Naturally, angel investors look for opportunities that will benefit them as well. Before anyone gives you angel funding, they need to know your predictions for their return on investment or how much money they stand to make compared to how much they’ll risk your business. Potential ROI was a top motivator for 49% of angels when making investment decisions.

Startups are not only about the technology or business idea but also the people behind them. The investment is more than just a demonstration of the entrepreneur’s confidence in the future of the emerging business angels, knowing that an entrepreneur is likely to work harder to create a successful start-up.

Nearly one-third of angels choose to invest in a company based on its connection to critical social issues. While some investors seek financial compensation, not all are primarily interested in the money. Some want a different kind of return: the ability to solve the world’s biggest challenges through the businesses they fund. “Having an impact matters, especially when it comes to investing in things like curing diseases, feeding a growing global population, fueling the planet with clean energy, and even taking us into space.” Science and technology startups especially should note that when raising capital, they should emphasize the impact of their solution besides potential returns to investors.

Angel investors want to understand how they are financing, especially startups in the tech field. Since angel investors are investing their own money, building their trust and establishing a relationship with them are crucial to gaining their support. More than 50% of respondents claimed this as one of their top reasons for investing, and 94% as it was helpful to have subject-matter experts explain the technologies within their company before investing. Many choose not to invest in specific businesses due to their inability to grasp technology.

Both Angels and venture capital funds invest in private firms through what is termed ‘private equity, often referred to as ‘patient money. It is called patient money because investments in private companies are usually relatively illiquid, and the private equity investor has to wait for a liquidity event, typically a trade sale or an initial public offering (IPO), to harvest their money. While both parties participate in similar investments, although often at different stages in the venture growth, the venture capital sector is better organized, more rigorous in approach, and much more standardized in the conditions under which it invests.