How to find angel investors for your startup business

With changing economy and a new rebelliousness amongst the workforce, we are witnessing a re-surging startup revolution. Depending on the source of data, over 627,000 new businesses open each year in the United States, according to estimates from SBA. Over the course of three years, we’ve written many stories about at least 1000 startups that have raised billions of dollars in funding through either venture capital and private equity farms.

However, startup funding is not just limited these two. There are many other funding options for startup founders to consider. Other funding methods include: bootstrapping using personal savings, loans, crowdfunding, grants, and corporate investments. One option we intentionally left out is funding through Angel Investors.

So who are the angel investors? Angel investors (also known as private investors, seed investors or angel funders) are affluent individuals or high net worth individuals who provide financial backing for small startups or entrepreneurs, typically in exchange for ownership equity in the company. Angel investors are the life blood that nourishes startups before venture capitalists (VCs) step in.

Often, angel investors are found among an entrepreneur’s family and friends. The funds that angel investors provide may be a one-time investment to help the business get off the ground or an ongoing injection to support and carry the company through its difficult early stages. Unknown to many, angel investors provide 90% of early equity capital for most startups.

The challenge for most new founders is figuring out where to find angel investors for their startups. Angel investors used to be a difficult group to find because there wasn’t any single entity or organization to find them — not anymore. There are now groups formed by angels and other organizations, such as the Angel Capital Association (ACA) and Funding Post.

Founded in 2005, Angel Capital Association (ACA) is the world’s largest angel investor association. Its mission is to fuel the success of angel groups and private investors that invest in high growth, early-stage ventures. ACA provides professional development and delivers services and benefits to support the success of ACA members. We also serve as the promotional voice for the North American angel community and the public policy voice for the US professional angel community.

ACA membership includes more than 170 angel groups and 20 affiliate organizations from across North America. With over 14,000 members and 250+ angel groups, the association is working to fuel the success of the accredited angel investor community through data reporting, advocacy, education and connection building To date, the ACA has funded more 5,000 portfolio companies.

In 2019, the association was involved in over 1,150 deals representing investments valued at $228 million from 68 major angel groups, driving almost $2 billion in startup investments. With access to the leading angel groups in North America, the database is rapidly growing.

Funding Post is another angel investor organization, For 18 Years FundingPost has worked to bring entrepreneurs together with leading investors worldwide. We believe that it is important to reach investors in every medium possible – both online and offline. Through its national Venture Capital Events, Venture Guide Magazine, Books, Webinars and our online Venture Exchange, FundingPost has had the opportunity to work with thousands of Angel and Venture Capital, Corporate VCs and Family Office Investors representing over $108 Billion.

So there you have it. Check out these two angel investor groups to see which one best meets your funding needs by visiting Angel Capital Association (ACA) and Funding Post.