Reno Angels Investor Group

The Reno Angels provide seed and early-stage capital in the range of $100,000 to $500,000, an investment range not generally served by venture capital funds. Our members are entrepreneurs, CEOs, investment bankers, venture capitalists, and business leaders who have funded and built world-class companies. We mentor and coach the entrepreneurs in whom we invest, serve on their boards, provide contacts, and assist with team building, strategic planning, and fundraising. Investment Criteria -Management team: We look for teams of high-quality entrepreneurs with a track record of leadership and performance - either in the company’s specific industry or in prior entrepreneurial ventures. We also look at your team’s passion for and commitment to the new business idea, and your ability to inspire confidence among future stakeholders, including employees, potential customers, and investors. As we will be working together as partners, your team’s credibility is essential. In addition, your team must be open to and comfortable with receiving input provided by angel investors. -Market opportunity: We invest in solutions that address major problems for significantly large target markets (i.e. a $100+ million market). Your company must demonstrate a strategy to claim a significant share of this market. -Use of proceeds: Funds must be used to accelerate your company’s achievement of key milestones that increase the company’s value. We often fund activities that include research and product development, building a sales and marketing infrastructure, and hiring key executives. -Growth potential: We look for companies that can grow quickly and manage the scale necessary to succeed. Your company must demonstrate a plan to generate significant profits beyond the initial product idea. Do you have a strategy to achieve multiple sources of revenue? We also require well-conceived financial projections, based on sound assumptions, demonstrating consistent profits and cash flow growth. -Competitive advantage: Your company must have some proprietary features that distinguish you from potential competitors or provide barriers to entry that prevent other companies from capturing your customers with a similar offering. -Technology: We invest in first-of-a-kind new ideas and those that incrementally enhance common products and services. Is this a nice-to-have, or a need-to-have product or service? However, we approach highly complex, esoteric technologies with caution. The concept behind the technology must be proven and verifiable. Further, we avoid science projects that don’t demonstrate a clear path to commercialization. Any breakthrough innovation must be accompanied by a strong business plan.