The Angel in the Mix

Reading about a new investment of tens or hundreds of millions of dollars in a start-up or established company is not an unusual occurrence these days, especially if you’re a regular reader of the Start-Up Nation Central blog. Happily, it’s a type of news story that we always like to report, and what’s more, we’re lucky enough to be able to do so on a somewhat frequent basis.

However, you might be surprised to know that in addition to the traditional understanding of the Venture Capital fund as a hero figure, the unsung hero of the investment world is actually a very different entity – the Angel investor. While it’s true that Angel investors have always been major players in the innovation ecosystem, it’s at the early-stage of any project or start-up where they are vital, and today more so than ever, given that companies looking for smaller investments are finding it increasingly hard to find them.

What is an Angel?

According to Finder, to be an Angel investor requires adherence to quite a specific set of criteria, and is not just anyone who perceives themselves as an Angel, or presents as one. An Angel investor is someone who sees investment as their occupation, and manages a proper portfolio of investments with a deal flow; not merely someone with money, who made a one-time financial outlay into a company.

Angel Investors in Finder

The underlying purpose of Start-Up Nation Finder is to serve the Israeli innovation ecosystem, enabling mutually beneficial connections to be made. Further to constructive and highly useful user feedback, Finder now offers comprehensive data on Angel investors, filterable according to investment amount, stages at which an investment was made and so on. As always, this is a two-way street – now Angels in search of their next investment can easily find and potentially match up with companies in search of early stage funding rounds, and vice versa.

The Ultimate in Innovation Discovery

Other than the famous Google Sheet created way back when by Eden Shochat of Aleph VC, no comprehensive or truly definitive source of Angel investors for the Israeli innovation ecosystem has existed until now. Finder is precisely that source – providing all the information you could ever want or need regarding Angel investors in a comprehensive, up to date, well-defined and specific manner.

Click here to learn more about Finder, and see the new Angel Investor feature for yourself!