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Angel Venture Fair to be Held in April |
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Written by Webmaster
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High and Low Tech Companies Seeking up to $3 Million Encouraged to Apply for 12th Annual Angel Venture Fair
Stakes “Higher Than Ever” For Investors and Entrepreneurs Alike
Philadelphia, PA January 27, 2010 – The Private Investors Forum (PIF), a non-profit consortium of accredited private investors and angel investor groups in the Mid-Atlantic Region, has announced a call for entries among entrepreneurs to participate in the 12th Annual Angel Venture Fair (AVF) to be held on April 6, 2010 at the Union League in Philadelphia. The Angel Venture Fair is considered to be the premier meeting of accredited angel investors and entrepreneurs in the mid-Atlantic region, drawing over 125 accredited investors. All high and low tech seed, early stage or expansion stage companies in the mid-Atlantic region seeking up to $3 million in capital are encouraged to apply by the February 2, 2010 deadline. Applications can be found at http://www.privateinvestorsforum.com/angelventurefair/application.php.
Unique Program
Angel Venture Fair provides a unique training program that screens, prepares and grooms best of class entrepreneurs for accredited investors over three months period prior to the fair. A panel of active angel investors judges the applications and invites up to 50 semi-finalists which are narrowed down following a March 4, 2010 day of live presentations by the companies. Ultimately, 30 companies will present at the April 6 Angel Venture Fair. A new feature this year provides another 20 the opportunity to present a verbal “elevator pitch” like “speed dating.” According to Richard Levin, chairman of the Private Investor Forum and an active member of the Tech Coast Angels, historically upwards of 75% of the companies that had presented at past events have gone on to raise capital. “We are proud of that and the fact that we have such a great group of active investors who are part of the selection process,” said Levin. Since the founding of the Angel Venture Fair in 1998, more than $16 million has been raised by emerging growth companies. Companies that attended the 2009 AVF raised $4.4 million and a year later have commitments for some $2 million more in follow on financing. Valerie Gaydos, who is an active angel investor as well as executive director of the Private Investors Forum, said that this year’s Angel Venture Fair has a national spotlight given its new affiliation with the Angel Capital Association a trade group of leading angel investment groups in North America. “As such, we believe this affiliation will result in AVF being the largest gathering of angel investors on the east coast,” Ms. Gaydos said. “This is good news, since more investors generally means more investment activity.”Richard Levin further noted, “The difficult economy over the past two years has weeded out many, leaving but the most skilled entrepreneurs. That actually works well for investors. With valuations at lower levels than in years past, we believe that investors will find many compelling investment opportunities at this year’s fair.”
Renewed Importance
According to entrepreneur, investor and Mid Atlantic Angel Group Chairman Peter Linder, this year’s Angel Venture Fair takes on renewed importance for investors and entrepreneurs alike. “The stakes are higher than ever,” he says. For entrepreneurs, “The downturn in the economy has hit state budgets hard, and one of the casualties has been state-level economic development funding initiatives,” he said. “To some degree, angel investors are being asked to fill a void that has been left behind by shrinking state budgets,” Linder reported. He said this void consists not only of hard dollars, but also incentive, training and economic development programs. “More than ever, founders of early stage companies will need to take advantage of what angel investors have to offer beyond just capital.” For investors, this year’s Angel Venture Forum is vitally important for many angels since good deal flow is essential to achieving their long-term wealth objectives. “Over the past decade the public equity markets have delivered two crashes – the Internet and housing bubbles – and a negative overall return.” As a result, he said, many angels now see the public markets as riskier than making direct private investments where they can put their background to work to reduce risk and where they can exert some control over their investments. That means there may be more of an appetite among investors to put their money to work building businesses. For more information about the Private Investors Forum or to arrange interviews with investors and entrepreneurs attending 2010 Angel Venture Fair, please contact Tony DeFazio at DeFazio Communications via email:
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or via telephone: 484-532-7783.
About the Private Investors Forum
The Private Investors Forum (PIF) is a non-profit consortium of accredited private investors and angel investor groups in the Mid-Atlantic Region. PIF accomplishes this mission by hosting the Annual Angel Venture Fair and quarterly educational meetings for accredited private investors for the exchange of due diligence knowledge on specific investments. Today, the Private Investors Forum enjoys a close relationship with LORE (an angel investment network), Ben Franklin Technology Partners, and Innovation Philadelphia. For more information, please visit http://www.privateinvestorsforum.com.
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