Angel Networks for the 21st Century

Abstract

Developments in web technology are creating new opportunities for entrepreneurs and venture investors alike and facilitate the emergence of new breeds of introduction services connecting these parties more efficiently. The article relies on clinical analyses of over 40 identified “best practice” angel networks in the U.S. and Europe to provide a systematic study of the newest and most innovative practices in angel networks, focusing in particular on the use of information technology to facilitate the flow of ideas and capital to start-ups and early-stage companies and its implications for tomorrow's private equity markets and the financing of high-potential ventures. It highlights two simultaneous polar developments, one toward the mass distribution of information regarding start-up opportunities (entrepreneur-centric networks) and the other, in reaction to the first, toward extreme screening of the information for a select audience (investor-centric networks).