What is an Angel Investor?
Angel investors are wealthy individuals who invest in high risk, early stage ventures by reserving a portion of their total investment portfolios to provide emerging companies with seed and startup capital through direct, private investments. Their goal is to achieve higher returns than the typical public markets provide. Most angels are active investors - who contribute their time and experience, as well as offer introductions to valuable contacts essential to the company’s success - because they enjoy the thrill of helping entrepreneurs grow their businesses. To maximize the value added, most angels specialize in industries or technologies they understand, and invest only in companies within close geographic proximity.

What is an Angel Group?
Angel investor groups vary in structure, from formal to informal. Formal groups follow strict participation requirements that guide members’ minimum investment activity and event attendance. Some groups pool members’ capital to make investments on the group’s behalf, while others allow individual members to invest in specific deals of interest.

A typical angel group’s investment ranges widely from $50,000 to $500,000 per deal, depending on how many group members are interested in the deal. While no two angel groups operate exactly alike, most angel groups maintain a local or regional geographic focus in order to maximize members’ ability to actively engage in the growth of their investments. Angel groups often have web sites that provide directions for business plan submission. After screening business plans for top-quality deals that match the group’s criteria, these groups organize regular monthly breakfast or dinner meetings for members to hear pitches from companies selected to present. If the group (or members of the group) decides to proceed, interested members commonly collaborate on due diligence and deal negotiation. Based on the group’s structure, investments are either made directly by individual members, or by the group as a whole. Most groups apply standard terms to their investments, with some flexibility to negotiate.

Why would I want to become an active angel investor in LAN?
If you make personal investments in early stage companies either for yourself, or directly representing others, such as a fund, you may find the following benefits to membership:

–Exposure to quality investment opportunities while maintaining individual privacy;
–Connections with other investors in Louisiana to share resources and collaborate on investments;
–Expert insight on potential investment opportunities provided by educational speakers invited to LAN hosted events;
–Introduction of financed angel deals to the venture capital community;
–Confidential access to a secure, online, updated database of available investment opportunities around Louisiana;
–Contributions to the growth of new businesses in Louisiana and throughout the region.

What are the qualifications to become a LAN member?
You must qualify as “accredited investors” as defined under Rule 501 of the SEC regulations which defines the same as:

“any natural person whose individual net worth, or joint net worth with that person’s spouse, at the time of her purchase exceeds $1,000,000″ or “any natural person who had an individual income in excess of $200,000 in each of the two most recent years or joint income with that person’s spouse in excess of $300,000 in each of those years and who reasonably expects to reach the same income level in the current year.”

What is expected of LAN angel investors?
–A $500 annual membership fee will be assessed, which covers costs associated with participation (i.e. meetings, access to the database, communications, administration, etc);
–Angels are expected to have the sincere intent to invest a minimum of $25,000 each year through LAN;
–An interest and willingness to evaluate opportunities and to invest in deals.