Our members often tell us they have never heard of it, but are THRILLED to be involved thanks to the high returns, the opportunity to mentor young companies from their past experience, positive impact on their communities, and camaraderie they enjoy with fellow investors.

If you are looking to diversify your investment portfolio while actively offering your experience to new businesses, positively influencing your local economy, learning about cutting-edge products before the general public, and continuing to grow your personal and professional network of like-minded individuals, angel investing is what you’ve been looking for.

Angel investing is purchasing equity in new companies that seek to grow rapidly, offering guidance to their leadership through that process, and reaping high returns upon exit.  It offers higher returns than other high-risk investing instruments and should be a

From the Kauffman Foundation

strategic component for all sophisticated, qualified investors.  It can be done individually, but this often presents unforeseen pitfalls.  Because of this more and more angel investors are seeing the benefits of joining established groups like the Wisconsin River Business Angels (WRBA).  For more about why it is important to invest with an angel investor group, see #5 below.

Angel investing is ideal for investors who…

• Meet the federal standard for an accredited investor
• Desire a higher than average return
• Have experience and expertise from a successful career in business or entrepreneurship to share with new companies
• Wish to create positive economic impact in their regions through growing businesses, developing innovative products, and driving job creation
• Believe in the power of capitalism to improve quality of life and wish to fuel the process with their own capital
• Are able to stay with investments for at least 5 to 7 years in order to realize the returns they seek

No other form of high-risk investing allows you to achieve high returns and create economic development that you can see in your own community like angel investing.  It is the true win/win/win of high-risk, high-return investing.

• Give back – Angel investing allows you to help entrepreneurs by giving them crucial guidance and capital to achieve important benchmarks in their growth.  Your investments can learn from your past mistakes and life lessons so they don’t make the same ones!
• Learn, satisfy your curiosity and scratch your entrepreneurial itch – See leading-edge business ventures that are shaping the future of our region and our country from the inside as you listen to pitches and evaluate investment opportunities (“window to the future”)
• Drive innovation – Angel investing brings products to market that improve everyone’s quality of life in sectors like agriculture, manufacturing, medicine, engineering, product design, and more
• Join an exclusive club of investors – fewer than 5% of qualified investors choose to seek returns through angel investing
• Fuel job creation – Angel-backed startups are responsible for most of the new jobs in the American economy
• Apply your expertise – Angel investing is active investing.  You don’t just sit on the sidelines watching the market; the expertise and mentorship you provide will help your companies succeed and maximize your return
• Enjoy tax benefits – Active Angel investors can have access to special tax benefits at both the state and federal levels.  Certain investments can be approved for some federal and state tax exemptions.

Most angel investors choose to work alone.  But we caution against that.  We often see maverick angels encounter difficult problems and miss out on important benefits because they lack the support of a team.  There is truly strength in numbers, especially in the dynamic and challenging field of angel investing.

Angel investing is the team sport of high-risk, high-return investments.  At its best it is highly collaborative and network-oriented. It benefits from the collective strengths and capital of the team, and the broad, balanced portfolio this facilitates.

Benefits of angel investing with a  group:

• Increased probability of long term success from balancing your angel investment portfolio, which mitigates risk
• Pooling members’ capital allows for greater level of investment in more different and diverse companies
• The support of the group and its diverse expertise opens you up to more investment options that you would overlook due to the limits of your personal expertise
• WRBA managers perform extensive due diligence on members’ behalf ensuring that all opportunities are well-vetted and meet a high standard to increase probability of success
• WRBA managers retain legal and tax council to work on behalf of members to negotiate favorable terms and conditions of investment, and ensure compliance with all regulations and tax policy
• Diversity of membership offers more skill sets, expertise, life experiences, and points of view for the benefit of investment companies and other investors
• Network with fellow members to develop friendships and camaraderie with other like-minded individuals
• Members are able to take an active advisory role in investment companies or sit back and act more passively depending on their preference
• WRBA managers act as the conduit between investors and the community so investors are able to stay anonymous if they prefer
• Members can rely on one another to stay motivated and solve problems together as a team
• Members get the benefit of the entire angel investing network, allowing them access to expertise and deal flow in highly diverse industries at the local, state, regional, and national level

The WRBA is an angel investing group like no other.  Find out about what makes our team special here.

Angel investing is unlike other high-return investing methods.  This is HIGH-IMPACT investing. – It’s investing to change the world

It’s not just watching the market, it’s change you can SEE.

You SEE…

…buildings go up

…jobs created

…innovative and life-changing products brought to the market

It’s ENGAGING and INTERACTIVE

You get the thrill of the entrepreneurial spirit with every investment.

It changes the world, promotes innovation, increases quality of life for everyone.

It gives you a front row seat to fascinating technical processes and innovations that stimulate curiosity and solve the world’s problems.  In angel investing we routinely invest in companies that are solving big problems and directly improving the approach of humankind to…

…pollution and environmental protection

…food supply

…IT

…agriculture

…transportation

…medicine

As an angel investor with the WRBA, you will have the opportunity to learn about disruptive, industry-diverse world-transforming technologies before anyone else, and to invest in the ones that our extensive due diligence process predict are likely to be the most profitable to you.

HERE ARE SOME OF THE AMAZING COMPANIES WE HAVE HELPED BRING TO THE MARKET

• Ki Mobility
• Organic Farm Marketing – currently owned by Kroger
• Pyran

Angel Investing is a long-term strategy.  Rewards can be considerable, but the average angel investment takes 5 years, sometimes

Angel Investors reap higher returns the longer they stay invested

longer.  Only invest money you can afford to tie up for that long.

There is a direct correlation between achieving angel investment-level returns and and the time your money is invested in companies.  Be patient and don’t pull it out prematurely.

There is also a direct correlation between ROI, the extent of due diligence, the time the investment is held, and the level of mentoring and support offered by investors to investment companies.