As collaborative investment models like GC Angels grow in popularity and success, research is highlighting this breed of syndicate based model as the best way forward for businesses seeking equity investment.
Bringing sector expert angels together in a syndicate is evidence of a number of factors that have been affecting the investment market over recent years. The venture capital industry is contracting, investors are more risk averse and there has been a real shift to larger and later stage investments.
For individual investors there are many benefits to working with their fellow angels in a syndicate – the opportunity to spread their money, reducing risk and providing exposure to a better range of investments, professional interaction with their peers and the support of a professionally managed funding process.
Similarly, by accessing an angel syndicate the entrepreneurs and businesses seeking investment can access the expertise, funding and contacts of a wider group with the potential to access follow on funding if required.
The Angel investment market has matured and the development of services like GC Angels is likely to increase in demand as other routes to investment become more risk averse.
And there is academic as well as anecdotal evidence to support this. The universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh recently undertook a detailed examination of investment syndicates in Scotland, which suggested that angel groups created a more formal structure to the process by managing and channeling the finance more efficiently and effectively.