What Is an Angel Investor?
If you’re familiar with the crowdfunding space, you have likely heard the term “angel investor” before. But what exactly does it mean?
Angel investors typically fall into a category of individuals who are accredited investors, but it is not a requirement. Similarly to the word “startup”, investors broadly use the term accredited investors. An angel is, generally speaking, someone who invests in a company at a very early stage with their own money in exchange for equity. This can even include family and friends. For serial investors, these deals are risky, and only typically comprise of about 10% of their investment portfolio.
Angel investors are generally investing in the founder, rather than the business itself. In this sense, these investors vary from venture capitalists in that they help the companies take their first steps.
Becoming an Angel Investor
Kingscrowd’s preferred and perhaps the easiest means of becoming an angel is through the crowdfunding space. Thanks to the addition of the JOBS Act which relaxed securities regulations and allowed for an easier and safer means to invest in small business, we’ve seen a huge increase in the number of startup companies open to angel investors. Wefunder, Republic, SeedInvest, or Microventures all offer reputable means of investing in small business. Those willing to put the effort and time into analyzing differing investment opportunities should start their trek to becoming an investor here.
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About: Olivia Strobl
Olivia comes to KingsCrowd with a background in venture capital and technology. She spent time at Glasswing Ventures, an AI-focused venture fund in Boston, before joining the KingsCrowd team. There she helped develop machine learning algorithms for the opportunity qualification of preseed and seed-stage startup companies. Prior to her time at Glasswing, Olivia worked in a lab studying the neural correlates of attention. She holds a degree in Neuroscience from Wellesley College.
