Wealth is created through investing in promising business opportunities. The standard or more traditional forms of investment are generally understood through such vehicles as the publically traded stock markets and mutual funds, or perhaps investing in specific individual stocks. Within the context of the emerging innovation economy however, significant wealth is being created through investing in promising start-up or early stage businesses through a network of individual investors generally referred to as “Angel Investors”. And while Angel Investing has become fairly commonplace in the mainstream business community, it remains significantly underrepresented by persons of color and ethnically diverse minority populations.
What exactly is an Angel Investor? An angel investor is a high net worth individual with a net worth excluding their home of $1 million or more, or who has an income of $200,000 per year (or $300,000 for a married couple) with the expectation that this income will continue into the future. Additionally, angel investors will also generally maintain the following characteristics:
Has business experience relevant to investment being considered
Interested in adding additional value to the investment
Mentoring
Using their networks to connect and collaborate
Contribute to a particular success milestone (development, licensing, marketing analysis, etc.)
Has a passion to foster economic growth in the community
There are many other characteristics and motivations that define angel investors which can be easily reviewed by visiting any of a number of websites and articles on this topic. We’ve provided a link below to an association of angel investors (called the Angel Capital Association), http://www.angelcapitalassociation.org/; as well as sampling of websites and articles that provide additional insight and information:
http://angelinvesting101.com/
http://www.1stglobalcapital.com
https://elitemerchantfunding.com
http://www.ehow.com/how_2305253_become-angel-investor.html
https://www.merchantfundingnetwork.com
If you would like to get connected to Angel Investing opportunities to potentially invest in some of the most promising businesses in the innovation economy click here to become part of the MSIA network.