Profiles of Angel Investors and Groups

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Miller's family started an office supply business, Quill, in 1956. The business was sold to Staples in 1998 for almost a billion dollars. Since then, Steve's been an angel. He's somewhat responsible for Quill's impressive sales price, having spearheaded the firm's Web business in the '90s. Much of his investing is done through Origin Ventures, which specializes in biotech and e-commerce. A good example of a successful investment is iNest, an online real estate agent for buyers of new homes that gives a 1% rebate to the buyer on completion of a deal. Origin invested in the company in 1999 and helped build the management team. It was sold to Lending Tree last November, and Miller says he made a significant multiple on his investment. Outside Origin and its focus, Miller has invested in a sports marketing firm.

Marquette University Golden Angels Network
Milwaukee
mukohlercenter.org
Founded: 2002
Members: 80
Total amount invested: $3 million
Number of companies funded: 4
Who got money: EMSystem

This young group is worth inclusion because its model shows promise and is likely to be replicated elsewhere: putting the resources of a university and an alumni network behind an angel group. Its director, Tim Keane, is the Entrepreneur in Residence at Marquette's College of Business Administration. The group consists of 80 angels in southeastern Wisconsin and northern Illinois; about two thirds are Marquette alumni. They're interested in any sort of business in the area, as long as the principals can articulate the size of their market and what they're going to do with more money to capture it. There are four live meetings per year over dinner, and, in an innovation unique to this list, eight more presentations are done via live webcast. Last year nine members gave support to EMSystem, which has a Web-based means of letting ambulance crews know what medical facilities are open and best suited to the emergency at hand.

Minnesota Investment Network
St. Paul, Minn.
www.mincorp.org
Founded: 1998
Members: 67
Total amount invested: $5 million
Number of companies funded: 20
Who got money: AbbeyMoor Medical

Minnesota Investment Network is a non-profit corporation with a $16.3 million equity fund dedicated to investing in manufacturing and technology companies in Minnesota. In addition, MINCorp has been establishing "RAIN funds," which organize angels locally as for-profit LLCs, and allow them to invest as they like -- locally, but also regionally and nationally according to their interest. So far six of these have been formed; two are fully invested. The local funds vote on all investments. Half the investments are in early-stage companies; the other half are to support ownership transition, keeping existing firms local. Several RAIN funds, MINCorp, and individual members have put in more than $1.5 million of the $10 million raised by AbbeyMoor, which makes a prosthetic stent for men with prostate problems. That money has helped AbbeyMoor stay in rural Minnesota, about 100 miles northwest of the Twin Cities.

Texas

Mike Maples Austin area
Angel since 1995
Total amount invested: Undisclosed
Number of companies funded: 54
Who got money: CM IT

Maples retired from Microsoft in 1995; since then he's become one of Texas's premier angels, operating out of his ranch about 50 miles west of Austin. Most of his investments are in areas close to his IT background -- a good example is CM IT, which changed its name from Computer Moms last year, a franchise operation that does onsite PC troubleshooting. These days Maples feels that traditional exits -- IPOs or buyouts by larger firms -- are becoming less likely, so he prefers to get a percentage of ongoing cash flow in return for his investment. He looks at five to 10 business plans a month, and will often meet with local firms he hasn't invested in just to give advice. He suspects the next big thing will be a software firm that figures out how to distribute its wares to small business -- and he'd like to get in on it.

West

Utah Angels
www.utahangels.org
Founded: 1997
Members: 13
Total amount invested: $14.6 million
Number of companies funded: 35
Who got money: Omniture, MyFamily.com

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