The newly-launched Bio/Med Investor Network is to focus on early-stage investments in bioscience, medical technologies and digital health companies.
The Network is supported by Georgia Bio, the Georgia Research Alliance and each of the state’s research universities. Investment targets will include Georgia-based companies typically seeking between USD200,000 and USD2 million, but the Network is also evaluating investment opportunities throughout the United States.
“Bioscience companies seeking early-stage capital have specialised needs and currently limited options,” says Ed Schutter, CEO of Atlanta-based Arbor Pharmaceuticals. “The Bio/Med Investor Network will not only offer an experienced pool of successful investors, but will also provide companies with experts in their field to guide them through their fundraising.”
The inaugural Board of Directors will serve as advisors to the Network by recruiting accredited angel investors and screening applicants for investment consideration. Directors include long-term angel and venture capital investors, practicing physicians and successful biosciences and healthcare executives. The Network launches with approximately 40 initial investor/members and expects to grow to over 70 investor/members within the next few months.
“Our members are committed to a disciplined, professional approach to evaluating investment opportunities and managing the investment process,” says Dr Jay Yadav, an internationally recognised interventional cardiologist and the founder of CardioMEMS, which was recently acquired by St. Jude Medical for USD460 million. “Biosciences and other such healthcare innovation companies must raise millions of dollars to guide them through R&D, clinical trials and prototyping before their product can reach the marketplace. Angel investors fill the gap between initial grants and “friends & family” funding and later-stage institutional investors and strategic partners.”
The Network also announced that it has joined the national Angel Capital Association (ACA) to fuel its investments in local entrepreneurial bioscience startups. “As members of the Angel Capital Association our angel investor members can access and leverage the latest investing best practices, new industry data, and a network of industry experts and potential syndication partners,” said Russell Allen, president and CEO of Georgia Bio.
“We are pleased to welcome Bio/Med Investor Network as a member of the Angel Capital Association and look forward to working with them as they invest in startups and grow the kinds of companies that are vital to a sustainable economy,” adds ACA Executive Director Marianne Hudson.
Angel groups fill an important funding niche between informal investors from family and friends, and formal venture capital. The number of angel organisations has more than tripled since 1999, reaching nearly 400 in the United States in 2013. Recent estimates from the Center for Venture Research report that angel groups provided $24.8 billion in start-up financing to nearly 70,730 ventures in 2013.
“An increasing number of individuals are looking at collaborative investing in high-potential startup companies through angel groups as an attractive investment option,” says John Huntz, experienced investor and chairman of Manhattan Associates. “Angel groups enable individual investors to pool expertise and capital to support early stage ventures.”
