Invest personal capital with the discipline and rigor of institutional investing.

An angel investor is a high net worth individual (accredited investor) who provides capital for a business startup, usually in exchange for convertible debt or ownership equity. In August 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission expanded its definition of accredited investor, allowing more individuals to participate in private equity investing. Angel investors often invest for reasons beyond pure monetary return, including staying abreast of current trends, mentoring entrepreneurs, stimulating local economic development, and satisfying individual entrepreneurial interests.

VisionTech Angels is among the most active angel investing groups in the Midwest with a large, diverse membership, an expanding investment portfolio and growing number of exits. We are looking for individuals who are accredited investors and want to invest a portion of their portfolio into high-potential early-stage companies, but haven’t because they are too busy to find the right companies, may not be familiar with analyzing and structuring investments, or find it difficult to diversify their investment portfolio on their own. Conversely, they do want to be involved in screening and vetting companies prior to investing. If this sounds like you, then we invite you to consider joining VisionTech Angels.

VisionTech Angels gives you access to high-quality deal flow. Each year, we screen more than 400 companies before selecting the 12 to 16 deemed most investable and that get the opportunity to pitch to our group. This helps mitigate risk by exposing you to many pre-qualified deals, vetting these deals using proven best-practices analysis, and pooling resources that enable you to spread your investments over a greater number of promising companies. You also benefit from the experience, insight, and opinions of your fellow VisionTech Angels.

Our expectations for members are:

• Annual membership fee
• Willingness to attend meetings in-person or online and actively contribute to deal assessments
• Ability to make your own decision on whether to invest by leveraging the collective intelligence of our group
• Opportunity to serve on the screening committee that selects pitch companies, participate in the due diligence process of companies being considered for investment or mentor portfolio companies
• Desire to network and have fun participating in the entrepreneurial process

Many people think they have to invest big dollars to be an angel investor. That’s not the case. You decide how much to invest. Many VisionTech Angels invest the minimum in an individual deal–for example, $5,000–with the goal of building a diverse investment portfolio. Of course, if you want to invest $50,000 in a deal, you can.

The VisionTech Angels screening committee reviews more than 400 startup companies a year using stringent criteria. Of these, we select 12 to 16 we deem to offer the most potential for success. This is based on a number of factors like product-market fit, management team, success to date in terms of revenue, and potential for exit.

You are not relying on VisionTech Angels for investment decisions. You are relying on yourself to make good decisions, but with the support of proven due diligence processes and the collective intelligence delivered by the group. As a VisionTech Angel, you will only invest in early-stage companies in which you have personal interest. We facilitate that process by screening and vetting the companies, organizing our group of investors, and exposing you to proven due diligence and investment structure processes. You have the final say on your personal investments. Angel investing is not like buying a lottery ticket; it’s more of an asset class. A study by Robert Wiltbank, an authority on angel investing, determined that having a portfolio of 20 investments gets you 95% confidence of a 2.5x return on your investments.

In addition to the potential to make money, our triple bottom line is the opportunity to share experiences with other VisionTech Angels, mentor promising startup companies and their leadership teams, and impact local economies via job creation.

Of course! Attending a VisionTech Angel pitch event as a guest is the best way to determine if our group is a good fit for you. Our pitch events are held on a bi-monthly basis and are published on our calendar of events. Please contact our executive director, Ben Pidgeon, to RSVP.

We’re fortunate to have a very vibrant and diverse membership that is committed to the success of VisionTech Angels, fellow investors and our portfolio companies. While each investor brings his or her own knowledge and experience to investment decisions, you should join a group where you—and your input—are welcome.

We fund our operations in these ways:

• Annual membership fees from VisionTech
• Portfolio management fees
• Profit sharing on successful investments
• Corporate sponsorships