Date: Mar 31, 2014 Author: Malia Spencer Source: bizjournals (
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The latest report tracking angel investment group deals reveals that while the Northwest's share is dropping, the U.S. geographic distribution is becoming more evenly split.
The Halo Report, is based on data from 884 deals completed last year totaling $1.1 billion. The total includes rounds with co-investors.
Last year, the Northwest saw 7.7 percent of the angel group deals and just 6 percent of the dollars invested. By comparison, California had 19 percent of the deals and 20 percent of the dollars invested.
The report is released quarterly by the Angel Resource Institute, Silicon Valley Bank and CB Insights.
The report notes that the Northwest and New England grabbed a smaller share of deals and invested dollars than in previous years.
The median round size in 2013 was $600,000, which was in-line with the previous two years. The median, pre-money valuation in early-stage companies also remained steady at $2.5 million, according to the report. Yet while the median was consistent, researchers found there were more high-valuation deals in 2013 than in 2012.
In the Northwest, the figure dropped from about 7.7 percent overall to a little more than 6 percent.
"The angel investing market is showing early signs of warning up, with co-investment round sizes and valuations tending upward to three year highs," said Rob Wiltbank, vice chairman of research for the Angel Resource Institute, in a written statement. "With a continued progression toward more even distribution of investments nationally, entrepreneurs throughout the country are likely to find it easier to access angel investors for critical early stage funding."
Wiltbank, a noted angel investor, was a long time professor at Willamette University is now CEO of the technology security firm Galois Inc.
The top three most active angel groups in 2013 were Golden Seeds, which has offices in California, New York and Massachusetts along with the Tech Coast Angels group out of Southern California and the Houston Angel Network. The only Northwest group to break the top 10 was Seattle's Alliance of Angels.
