The purpose of the conference is to help the investors learn how to refine their skills as angel investors, so they can make more knowledgeable investments. We re trying to make people comfortable with this type of investing, says Andy Hoyne, an Armstrong Teasdale attorney who works with the St. Louis Angel Network. The Angel Network was formed in 1999 to support St. Louis-based early stage technology companies seeking investment funding from investors. Hoyne says the upcoming seminar is one way the network hopes to attract local investors beyond the 50 or so who are members of the local network. An angel is a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission-accredited investor who provides private financing for emerging growth companies that are typically too small to attract venture capital and too large to rely on funding from family or friends.
Most angels also provide their business expertise and connections to the companies they fund.
Many angels also go out of their way to remain anonymous to the general and business public and shy away from an organization such as the Angel Network, Hoyne says. The Power of Angel Investing seminar is a mechanism to share early-stage investing information with potential area angels who wish to remain behind the scenes, Hoyne adds. Marcia Mellitz, president of the Center for Emerging Technologies, which is a local conference sponsor, says the seminar is part of an effort to build an environment that supports entrepreneurism and to give people a comfort level, so they understand the process and to make them better investors. For Mellitz, whose organization assists start-up and early stage technology companies, the seminar is seen as a potentially valuable tool. Angel money is the first money into the companies I m dealing with, she says.