Maine Angels Angel Investor Network



Angel investing has long been an important source of financial support and mentoring for new and growing businesses bridging the gap between individual (friends and family) and institutional venture capital rounds of financing. Over the past several years, Maine Angels and this sector of the private capital market has been formalizing in response to both growing demands and complexity.

Maine Angels - MAINE ANGELS was founded to enhance regional economic development in and through the private sector, by providing a cooperative mechanism for interested individuals to collaboratively locate, investigate and make investments in early-stage, high risk/return opportunities. Through this mechanism, entrepreneurs can access critical resources of seed capital (generally $100,000 to $2,000,000 per instance) and management guidance from experienced business veterans, while investors can decrease the risk and increase the financial return of Angel Investing by cooperating in this activity with a disciplined and experienced group of like-minded colleagues. MAINE ANGELS drew a strong group of founding members when it began in October, 2003, and will continue to grow its membership and be a premier Angel Investment group for high growth businesses in this region and elsewhere. While MAINE ANGELS intends to make many of its investments within Maine, it will consider and may participate in opportunities elsewhere through direct company application and/or collaboration with other Angel or Venture groups. All investments are made individually, i.e., no legal entity acts on behalf of MAINE ANGELS investors. MAINE ANGELS is an independent, non-governmental organization. MAINE ANGELS includes former chief executive officers, founders of successful companies, and experienced financial or technical professionals from a variety of industries, who meet at least monthly to review applications and opportunities. Many MAINE ANGELS members are interested in actively mentoring the companies in which they invest, and this is encouraged. The typical angel member seeks a return on investment comparable to that obtained by venture capital firms. Investments by individuals are usually $10,000 or more per deal.
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Angel Networks are as unique as the private investors that make them up. Maine Angels is a group of accredited investors (sophisticated investors) who get together to review companies for potential investment. The investments can be made by accredited individuals belonging to the network or by the network itself as a limited partnership. Some angel networks charge a fee to the entrepreneur for the business plan to be reviewed, or for an in-person presentation to be made to the "angels" group and other angel networks don't. Learn about as many angel networks / groups in your area as possible.

Like Maine Angels, the number of organized angel groups / networks has grown in response to several factors:
- A widening “capital gap” between individual and institutional venture capital investors that has created a need and an opportunity for pooled investments
- Social camaraderie among investors.



As a result, angel investment screening by Maine Angels, is consistent when compared to other angel investment groups. Specific organizational and legal structures, however, remain varied. Most groups, including Maine Angels ( ) develop their own organizational structures and processes independently. For entrepreneurs and other angel investors, the net results of this change are mostly positive. Although the models of business angel groups continue to evolve, these groups are generally better financed than ad hoc groups of individual / private investors in . Maine Angels (Angel Investment Network) provides an extended network that benefits both funded companies and private co-investors / other angels by providing greater due diligence, operational support and domain expertise. Business angel groups, such as Maine Angels and other groups () can also provide a key source of qualified deal flow for venture firms - - as well as provide intermediate capital for companies with financing requirement levels between individual / private investors and institutional venture capital.