Before Christmas, I’ve presented what are business angels, their motivations and how to evaluate them as an entrepreneur (give it a read if you haven’t seen it!). After better understanding this type of investors, the second step is… to find them!
First, you need to realize that finding business angels is not that easy. Or at least independent business angels. However, with online tools like Linkedin, you can now find angels more easily.
Why? Because people are no more shy to claim they are investing in companies. Of course, if you say openly you’re an investor, you will have more people contacting you to convince you to invest in their company. But as everything today, investing is not just about money. Entrepreneurs do want smart money: money from smart guys who can help them grow the business (or from which they can get valuable advices)! So as an investor, you also have to work on your reputation and take care of your personal branding. Because your reputation as an angel will help you get the best investment opportunities.
Many angels are (or will be?) members of business angels clubs. Which provide training to their members, set the internal rules and the “philosophy” of the club, promote the club brand and take care if its reputation. And management of clubs also help angels be more efficient, by selecting investment cases and doing a pre-analysis.
To pitch angels clubs, you always have to fill a specific form (it’s a pity that every club does its own process and there is no shared form… entrepreneurs should have a better use of their time as filling forms, no?).
There are numerous business angels associations in Switzerland, here they are:
How: 3 dinner meetings per month, on Wednesday (2nd of the month in Zürich, 3rd in Lausanne / 2nd Thursday in Lake Constance). 3-4 startups per meeting are invited to pitch their startup.
Industries: all industries
Portfolio: 78 startups financed so far (and around 30 where angels invested outside of the club)
Typical size of investment: CHF 150k – 1M
Average size of an investment: CHF 250k – 300k (investment by the club)
#investments per year: 5-8
#members: 63
Cost: entrepreneurs pay CHF 120.- (to cover the cost of the dinner) to pitch
How: Awareness seminars (3/month) or group meetings (3/month) in Zürich, Paris and Geneva. 3-4 startups invited by event.
Industries: everything except pharma
Portfolio: 24 startups so far (and 9 where angels invested outside of the club)
Typical size of investment: CHF 50-1M
Average size of an investment: CHF 200k per round
#investments per year:
#members: >170
Cost: EUR 100.- for the first 2 presentations (the following are free)
How: 3 presentation events (with 4 startups) per year, often with partner organizations. 1-2 startups per event get financed.
Industries: everything except pharma
Portfolio: 21 startups financed so far
Typical size of investment: CHF 1-2M (investment per individual angel: CHF 50-200k – each angel can invest individually)
Average size of an investment: CHF 500-700k
#investments per year: 3-6
#members: 70
Cost: 0.-
How: EntrepreneursDay (1/year) and Investors’ Summit (3-4/year)
Industries: software, services, online- and mobile businesses in German-speaking countries (D-A-CH region)
Portfolio: 45 companies financed so far
Typical size of investment: unknown
Average size of an investment: unknown
#investments per year: 3-6
#members: unknown
Cost: ?
How: Venture Capital firm how process to due diligence and proposes the investment cases to its affiliated network of business angels
Industries: internet and mobile based businesses + advanced technology businesses (including companies which develop medical technologies and clean technologies).
Portfolio: 60 startups financed so far
Typical size of investment: EUR 20k – 20M
Average size of an investment: EUR 500k – 3M
#investments per year: 5-20
#members: 120
Cost: ?
Club valaisan des Business Angels
How: 2-3 presentation events (with 4-5 startups) per year.
Industries: everything but based in canton of Valais
Portfolio: unknown
Typical size of investment: CHF 50k – 1M (investment per individual angel: CHF 50k)
Average size of an investment: CHF 100k
#investments per year: 2-3
#members: 50
Cost: CHF 50.- (cost of the dinner) + a commission fee (1.0-3.5% on the money raised, depending on the amount successfully raised)
How: 5-6 pitching events per year (with 4 startups)
Industries: everything but related to EPFL (alumni, R&D project, etc.)
Portfolio: 7 startups financed so far
Typical size of investment: CHF 50k (investment per individual angel: CHF 5k – 50k)
Average size of an investment: CHF 50-100k
#investments per year: 3
#members: unknown
Cost: 50.- (to cover the cost of dinner)
How: venture capital-focused platform where the community provides the fund (each investor selects individually in which proposed startup he’d like to invest)
Industries: ICT, Cleantech, Medtech, Agriculture, Mobile Apps,
Logistics, Gastronomy, etc.
Portfolio: 20 startups financed since 2010
Typical size of investment: CHF 100k – 1M
Average size of an investment: CHF 500k (CHF 25k per individual investor)
#investments per year: 8
#members: 3’000
Cost: 6% of capital raised
How: online platform bringing together investors and entrepreneurs (crowdfunding + marketplace).
Industries: open to all industries
Portfolio: varies constantly
Typical size of investment: CHF 300k – 800k
Average size of an investment (per individual): CHF 5k
#investments per year: N/A
#members: 2’000
Cost: 10% of the capital raised / cost per listing (marketplace) of CHF 250-400 per quartal
How: crowdfunding platform
Industries: open to all industries
Portfolio: NetAgenda and Rightclearing
Typical size of investment: CHF 100k
Average size of an investment (per individual): CHF 1.5k
#investments per year: N/A
#members: ?
Cost: commission fee (10%?)
There’s also another event where startups have the opportunity to pitch potential business angels, regularly organized in Switzerland for ICT startups: ICT Investors Day, which happens 4 times a year and twice a year in Lausanne (disclosure: I’m organizing the Lausanne chapter).
If you have experience with these clubs (positive or negative), don’t hesitate to share it below in the comments. This blog post should be a first step towards sharing knowledge and experience about business angels clubs!
And if you know other active business clubs in Switzerland or if you have the information to complete the few missing point, don’t hesitate to tell me!