More than 40 Angel funds join forces to promote investment

More than 40 angel funds, including two from Chicago, banded together last week to form the Angel Capital Alliance, an organization that backers hope will lead to more investment money becoming available to back small start-ups.

John Schmeltzer Chicago Tribune

"It’s a professional association for angel groups so they can learn from each other and become better investors," said Marianne Hudson, manager of the Kansas City, Mo.-based E.M. Kauffman Foundation’s two-year effort to nurture formation of the group.

Expanding the access to capital is a critical step in the nation’s economic recovery, according to many groups. Funding for entrepreneurs is broken into several layers.

Angel funds, which get their money from individual investors, provide the earliest stage of investment.

Nationwide, there are approximately 170 angel groups providing money to entrepreneurs seeking financial backing for new ideas. In Chicago, Prairie Angels and Northern Illinois Angels are charter members of the group.

Hudson said that the foundation hopes that the creation of the group will lead to more individual investors joining the angel groups.

Copyright © 2003, Chicago Tribune

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