Entrepreneurs, Start Your Engines

May 21
Oscar Moralez, Managing Director
Oscar Moralez, Managing Director

In the spirit of the greatest spectacle in racing, the Indianapolis 500, the Venture Club of Indiana hosted a themed meeting for entrepreneurs and investors in early May. On the agenda was a panel discussion on RACE—Regulatory Changes, Angel Investing, Crowd Funding and Engagement—intended to help starts up accelerate the fund-raising process.

As you might guess, I represented angel investing. Nick Mathioudakis, an attorney with Faegre Baker Daniels LLP, covered regulatory changes, while Ryan Flynn introduced LocalStake.com, an investment crowdfunding platform that helps small U.S. businesses raise funds from investors in their community. Todd Saxton graciously moderated the discussion.

Gerry Dick, Inside Indiana Business, and Todd Saxton, The Venture Club of Indiana
Gerry Dick, Inside Indiana Business, and Todd Saxton, The Venture Club of Indiana

Fortunately, we had a friendly audience (maybe they thought this was truly a race event?) of more than 140 people, a good many of whom were entrepreneurs wanting to gain a better understanding of the best road to capital raising. My focus was the trends and dynamics of angel investing, what angel investors look for in a deal, and when and how entrepreneurs to engage with angels.

With the innovation/entrepreneur landscape changing so rapidly, this was a great event for attendees and presenters. I learned good bit about crowdfunding trends, which is predicted to be the top source of startup capital in a few years. I, for one, welcome crowdfunding sites like LocalStake.com to the innovation marketplace as it creates more options for startups and investors alike, which in turn will help fuel the process of bringing more technologies and job-creating companies to Indiana.

Thank you, Venture Club of Indiana, for hosting the event and for kicking off race month in Indy with style!