THE 2009 EARLY STAGE VENTURE FAIR

From The Connecticut Venture Group

THE 2009 EARLY STAGE VENTURE FAIR is designed for entrepreneurs seeking capital to launch or expand a business. Selected companies receive:
• Time on the agenda to deliver a 4-minute PowerPoint presentation to investors
• Exhibit table
• Write-up in conference book
• Complimentary admission to November 19 Orientation and Early Stage Bootcamp

ORIENTATION November 19, North Haven Campus of Quinnipiac University, Room 250
1:30 pm – Registration
2:00 pm – Tapping into SBIR grants as a source of capital
2:30 pm – Capital Sources and Current Valuations
3:15 pm – Pitching Investors
4:00 pm – Logistics at December 9 Early Stage Venture Fair
4:30 pm – Dry runs of PowerPoint pitches, with expert feedback

To attend the November 19 orientation register at www.cvg.org/Registration/registration_11_19_09.html

The orientation is free to companies that have applied to present on December 9. All others, $125.

Click here for directions: http://www.cvg.org/Directions/Quinnipiac_North_Haven_Campus_Map.pdf

VENTURE FAIR December 9, New Haven Lawn Club
1:00 pm – Exhibitor Set-up
2:00 pm – Presentations by entrepreneurs
3:30 pm - Break
4:00 pm – Presentations by entrepreneurs (con’d.)
5:00 pm – Reception in exhibit area

To present and exhibit ($225 including two admissions), apply at www.back-offices.com/VCFair

To attend only, please register ($55) at http://www.cvg.org/Registration/registration_12_09_09.html

Click here for directions to Lawn Club: http://cvg.org/driving_directions.asp?id=5

For more information please visit www.CVG.org, or call Bernie Lynch at (203) 256-5955.

SPONSORS: Business New Haven • Capital Advisors Group • CHL Medical Partners • Connecticut Innovations •
EDC • Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge • Fairfield Partners Executive Search • Fiondella, Milone & LaSaracina • FirstMark Capital • Hartford Ventures • LaunchCapital • Murtha Cullina LLP • O'Connor Davies Munns & Dobbins • PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP • Pullman & Comley, LLC • Robinson & Cole LLP • Shipman & Goodwin LLP • UHY Advisors • University of Connecticut • Updike, Kelly & Spellacy P.C. • Webster Bank • Wiggin and Dana LLP • Yale

Angel Fair Coming in September

Cantor Colburn LLP
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Showcase & Awards
The Third Annual Innovation Pipeline Awards is Growing! SAVE the DATE: September 17, 2009 in New Haven.

By Liddy Karter, Program Director, Innovation Pipeline Accelerator

CTC's Cantor Colburn LLP Innovation & Entrepreneurship Showcase & Awards
featuring, Connecticut's Innovation Pipeline, FastTrack & Companies to Watch, and the Northeast Angel Summit, September 17, 2009 in New Haven

In addition to a poster fair and an awards ceremony for the Innovation Pipeline Accelerator companies from 4:00 - 7:30 PM, we are adding the Northeast Angel Summit, a whole day of activities around angel investing and seed funds, the primary source of capital for emerging companies. With over 25 angels groups and seed funds from New England, New York, and New Jersey convening for training, syndication, and new company pipeline building, if you need outside capital now or in the future, this is the place to meet.

more at:

http://ctc.ecommunique.com/web_display.asp?l=10334&d=6454&m=30366097&type=all

Angel Funding 2008

The Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire says that 55,480 entrepreneurial ventures received funding from angels in 2008. I'm copying and pasting the whole article below.

Angels are funding fewer ventures, but they're risking about the same amount of money as they did in 2007. Angels only fund about 1% of the plans they see. That's why it's crucial to have a really solid business plan to demonstrate why your venture will succeed and return the investors' capital to them many times over. For tips on writing a great business plan, see www.upstartbusinessplanning.com.

Read the article from UNH below. Here is a link, too.
http://unh.edu/news/campusjournal/2009/Apr/01angel.cfm

Angel Investments Down in 2008, But Not Deals

By Lori Wright, Media Relations
April 1, 2009

Angel investments dropped in 2008 by 26.2 percent over 2007, but the number of deals was relatively unchanged, with 55,480 entrepreneurial ventures receiving funding, according to the 2008 Angel Market Analysis released by the Center for Venture Research at UNH.

The angel investor market had a considerable contraction in investment dollars from last year but exhibited little change in the number of investments, according to Jeffrey Sohl, director of the Center for Venture Research at the Whittemore School of Business and Economics.

Total investments in 2008 were $19.2 billion, a decrease of 26.2 percent from 2007 when investments totaled $26 billion. However, 55,480 entrepreneurial ventures received angel funding in 2008, a modest 2.9 percent decrease from 2007 when 57,120 entrepreneurial ventures received angel funding. The number of active investors in 2008 was 260,500 individuals, virtually unchanged from 2007’s 258,200 individuals.

“The significant decline in total dollars, coupled with the small decrease in investments resulted in a smaller deal size for 2008, a decline in deal size of 24 percent from 2007. In contrast to venture capital, in which money must be invested during the life of the fund and is in part based on the size of the fund, angel investing is an individual decision and angels invest from their net worth. These data indicate that while angels have not significantly decreased their investment activity, they are committing less dollars resulting from lower valuations and a cautious approach to investing,” Sohl said.

Healthcare services/medical devices and equipment accounted for the largest share of investments, with 16 percent of total angel investments in 2008, followed by software (13 percent), retail (12 percent) and biotech (11 percent). Industrial/energy accounted for 8 percent of investments, reflecting a continued appetite for green technologies, and media (7 percent) rounds out the top six investment sectors.

“Retail and media have solidified their presence in the top six sectors, mainly due to a continued interest in social networking ventures,” Sohl said.

Mergers and acquisitions represented 70 percent of the angel exits, and IPOs 4 percent, in 2008. Bankruptcies accounted for 26 percent of the exits. Annual returns for angel’s exits (mergers and acquisitions and IPOs) were 22 percent, however, these returns were quite variable.

Angels have maintained their position as the largest source of seed and start-up capital, with 45 percent of 2008 angel investments in the seed and start-up stage, a slight increase of 6 percent over 2007. Angels also exhibited an interest in post-seed/start-up investing with 40 percent of investments in this stage, also an increase from 2007. Expansion stage investing (14 percent) showed the largest decline. New, first sequence, investments represent 63 percent of 2008 angel activity, unchanged from the last two years, indicating a continued preference for new, as opposed to follow-on, investments.

The Center for Venture Research has been conducting research on the angel market since 1980. The center’s mission is to provide an understanding of the angel market and the critical role of angels in the early stage equity financing of high growth entrepreneurial ventures. Through the tenet of academic research in an applied area of study, the center is dedicated to providing reliable and timely information on the angel market to entrepreneurs, private investors and public policymakers. For more information visit www.unh.edu/cvr or contact the center at 2-3341.

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Angel Funding Forum - Stamford, CT

The Connecticut Venture Group is running a forum for entrepreneurs on how how to attract angel investors. Two of my friends, Andy Hanson and Doug Campbell, are on the panel. They are worth hearing.

Here is the scoop on the event --

http://www.cvg.org/upcoming_events.asp

Upcoming Events: EA Workshop: Angel & Early Stage Funding for Emerging Growth Companies When: Thursday, February 5, 2009 Time: Noon - 2:00pm Where: Schreiber Reading Room UConn Campus (2nd floor) Stamford, CT Cost: For Entrepreneurs Only: $20 Lunch will be available For More Information: Click here Registration: Click Here Directions: Click here

Angel Investors

At the Connecticut Venture Group meeting last week, Andy Hanson, who is an angel investor, told the audience that finding angel capital in Connecticut is not easy. To illustrate his point, he asked for a show of hands -- how many angels in the audience? 11. How many entrepreneurs? About 150. Andy mentioned three angel groups in CT -- CT Angel Guild, Angel Investor Forum, and Private Investors Network.

Angel investing, according to Andy, fills that gap between friends and family funding and venture capital. It's for early and seed stage investors. Typically, an angel will invest in a company with a product and at least one customer who has written a check. The business must be scalable; i.e., readily expandable/growable. The angels want to get at least 10 times their money back. That makes it hard for entrepreneurs to get funding.

For every 10 plans an angel reads, he or she will see 3 owners and fund 1 or 2 businesses. That's why having a great executive summary or one-page angel sheet is essential. To get money from the angel groups Andy is connected with, go to the Connecticut Venture Group and fill out their seed/early stage form. http://www.cvg.org/entrepreneurzone.asp

If you need advice about filling out these forms or improving your executive summary, please visit my website: www.upstartbusinessplanning.com or email me at: upstartwyn@gmail.com.