Private investors often use an asset allocation strategy when building their investment portfolios which might consist of a core portfolio of passive investments (for example exchange traded funds) in combination with a range of satellite investments such as hedge and private equity, commodities or real estate. The key thing is to never put all your eggs in one basket — a lesson we have all heard before.
So where does angel investment fit in? How you can spot an “angel” from a “normal” investor? The short answer is you can’t. The reason is that angels are “normal” investors with diversified investment strategies often implemented via discretionary accounts or fund structures. What differentiates them from the rest is their passion for a certain industry because of their previous experience and skills. Often this passion and deep domain expertise drives and empowers them to pick the winners and post investment they like to play an active role in the success of the company by doing anything in their power to help the company grow. That’s why all entrepreneurs need their angels!
FINTECH angels normally come from the financial services and/or technology sector combining deep domain expertise in retail, corporate, investment banking, asset management, private wealth management, or transaction banking with technology understanding and the curiosity to explore new technologies such as blockchain innovation, for example.
This article will explain in more detail the “funding ladder” from the friends & family round, to angels to Series A/B/C etc with focus on angel investing and provide insights both to fintech entrepreneurs and investors on
how to become an angel (for those of you who are willing to invest and share your fintech knowledge & domain expertise, contacts/network with the best fintech entrepreneurs) and
how to access angel funding for entrepreneurs (for those of you who need to decide between fintech focused vs sector agnostic angel networks and crowd funding platforms).