What Is Angel Investment


The world of entrepreneurial startups is where the most exciting and creative action is happening in today’s business world, with angel investing entering the mainstream; more than USD 50 billion are being invested annually in the World, with a sustained growth over the past years.

Business angel investors are high net worth individuals who usually provide smaller amounts of finance (USD 25,000 to USD 500,000) at an earlier stage than many venture capital funds are able to invest. They are increasingly investing alongside seed venture capital funds.

Angels usually contribute much more than pure cash – they often have industry knowledge and contacts that they pass on to entrepreneurs. Angels will often take non-executive board positions in the companies in which they invest.

The importance of business angels to the equity capital industry has grown significantly in recent years. With the recent formation and growth of angel syndicates, equity from business angels is becoming more and more important to the global equity capital industry.

Angel Investor  is a private individual, mostly high net worth, usually with business experience, who directly invests part of his or her personal assets in new and growing unquoted businesses. They could invest individually or alternatively invest in syndicates where typically one angel in the syndicate takes a lead role. Besides capital, angel investors provide business management experience, skills and contacts for the entrepreneur. Good angel investors can provide “smart and patient capital”.

Angel Investors play an important role in the economy, and in many countries constitute the largest source of external funding, after family and friends, in newly established ventures. They are increasingly important in providing risk capital as well as contributing to economic growth and technological advances. Moreover, the supply of start-up and early-stage equity finance has to some extent become more dependent on angel investors, as venture capital funds are not able to accommodate a large number of small deals. The traditional source of start-up and early-stage financing – bank lending – is limited due to risk level and handling costs.

They provide both financing and managerial experience, which increase the likelihood of start-up enterprises to survive. Given the importance of informal investors for the creation and maintenance of an entrepreneurial economy, fostering their investment could have a significant leverage effect. Increasing the awareness about their activity or about available policies and programmes in some countries or regions (best practices), could positively impact the industry, SME financing and regional development.

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