DETROIT ? Angels aren?t just of the heavenly kind. They?re also well-off private investors who pump thousands of dollars, sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars, into promising start up companies. One such group in Michigan is called the Great Lakes Angels.
Last year, the Great Lakes Angels invested nearly $4 million into 24 deals, up from just $225,000 the year before. Many of those investments were in Michigan companies.
A new alliance with Wayne State University?s Tech Town, along with a $240,000 three-year grant from the Michigan Technology Tri-Corridor fund, should make it possible for Great Lakes Angels to fund even more Michigan entrepreneurs, said Great Lakes Angels President David Weaver.
?With the awarding of the Tri-Corridor grant, Howard Bell and I will work to expand the angle network in Southeast Michigan,?? he said.
The grant money will be used to fund an office, pay a part-time administrator, and to help get the word out to entrepreneurs what Great Lakes Angels has to offer.
?Part of what we?re trying to do is create an environment where entrepreneurs have the resources to grow,?? Bell said. ?Funding is an early issue. When in you?re in the tech field, you also have product and market risk.?
?I was aware of David?s efforts and his transient headquarters,?? Bell said. ?I proposed we could partner and we could bring along our interaction with our angel network, particularly the screening of deals to make sure we get quality deals in front of the angels.?
Part of Great Lakes Angels? duties is to pre screen deals for its investors. Those are deals that investors feel they have a chance of making money on. Most investors see hundreds of business plans each year, but only a handful worthy of an investment.
Membership in Great Lakes Angels is limited to wealthy individuals who can afford to lose the money they invest. The criteria to join is a net worth of $1 million (excluding the value of a home), a single annual income of $250,000, or a combined annual income of $300,000.
Great Lakes Angels has 30 paid members. Its monthly meetings, where one or two entrepreneurs get a chance to pitch their companies, attract about 40 people, which includes agents for angel investors. Weaver hopes to continue to grow Great Lakes Angels to help keep in Michigan what could become the next Microsoft.
?What it could also do is help keep these promising startups in the area,?? Weaver said. ? A lot of companies get funded from outside the state, and the investors want them close so they can watch it. If we do a good job of making a forum for angels to network here in the Great Lakes, it will help keep entrepreneur companies in the region.?
To learn more about Great Lakes Angels, click on GLAngels.Org
