Last year, according to the Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire, 67,030 ventures received angel funding.
This represented an increase of 1.8% over the prior year. In total, these angels invested $22.9 Billion; that’s a lot of money.
Importantly, the Center for Venture Research found that the number of angel investors providing the funding last year was 268,160 individuals. So, clearly, there are a lot of angel investors out there.
So, you’re probably thinking: how do I find these angel investors? The good and bad news is that there’s no directory of angel investors. It’s bad because if there was, it would be easy to find them. And it’s good, since if angel investors were simple to find, they would be bombarded with deals; and thus raising capital from them would be much more competitive.
The best way to find these angel investors is through networking.
First, ask everyone you know (e.g., friends, colleagues, family, advisors like consultants, lawyers and accountants, etc. ) who they know that might invest in your business.
After that, the key is for you to keep networking and meeting new people. In many cases you should target individual angel investors directly. For instance, you may realize that a certain executive in your industry would be perfect, in which case you should call them and/or seek an introduction from a mutual acquaintance.
In other cases, you should “get out there” and meet them at different venues. Here are the six best venues I’ve found for meeting angel investors.
1. Local Business & Networking Events
Every city has local events that attract business owners and entrepreneurs (note that other business owners and entrepreneurs are often angel investors and/or can introduce you to angels).
You can find out about these events on sites like Meetup, Eventful and EventBrite.
For example, if you go to Meetup and type in “entrepreneur,” you’ll find lots of local events.
2. Industry Conferences & Trade Shows
Industry Conferences & Trade Shows are great places to meet angel investors. These events are filled with successful people who have the means and often interest in funding a company like yours. And, based on the fact that they are attending such a conference, they know your industry. This makes educating them on your venture easier, and also often gives them the ability to give you valuable strategic advice.
You can generally find out about these events in your industry’s trade journals.
3. Alumni Events
Particularly at college alumni events you’ll find lots of successful people. Many of whom would be very interested in funding your company as an angel investor. You already have a connection with these individuals since you share the same alma mater. So go to these events and meet them.
You may also have access to an online alumni directly. If so, you can use this to directly target certain individuals.
4. Chamber of Commerce Meetings
There’s probably no better place to meet a large concentration of business owners (and potential angel investors) than local Chamber of Commerce meetings. So attend these meetings.
5. Volunteer at Local Organizations & Charities and/or Attend Charity Events
As a general rule, you should volunteer to give back to people less fortunate than you. But as a bonus, when volunteering you’ll often meet very successful people, including large donors to the cause. These individuals might also be interested in funding your company.
6. Become a Guest Speaker
There are many groups like YPO (Young President’s Organization) and Vistage that have monthly meetings during which they bring in outside speakers.
Find groups like these that could benefit from your knowledge. Present great information to them to help their businesses grow. In doing so, you will make great connections, including some that can fund your business.
Bonus Method: Host Your Own Event
A colleague of mine created his own listing on Meetup.com. He set up an event and invited “entrepreneurs generating $1 million or more in revenue” to attend. Over 20 entrepreneurs showed up, and as you might imagine, HE was the center of attention. How’s that for a great way to gain awareness among other successful entrepreneurs who could fund or otherwise help your business!
Simply present your event as a local networking event for entrepreneurs; successful entrepreneurs love meeting other successful entrepreneurs. And the cost can be very little; if you don’t have your own office space, you can simple find a local bar or restaurant willing to host it in return for the customers.
Angel investors and entrepreneurs who can help you are all over the place. But they’re not going to knock on your door unprovoked. So, take action by attending events or putting on your own event so you can meet them right away.
How To Find Angel Investors and Raise Funding
If you want to raise your first $100,000 (or more), click below to learn my battle-tested, 6-step funding formula for raising funding from angel investors
