Investing In and Mentoring Silicon Valley’s Best Seed Stage Startups

Since 1994

Band of Angels was the first high-tech angel investment group in the USA and continues today, with weekly member events, monthly deal pitch dinners, and millions of dollars of annual investment into 20+ startups each year

We are a formal group of 165+ angel investors, mostly former and current high tech executives, who invest their time and money into new, cutting edge, startup companies. Since the Band's inception in 1994 as the first organized high-tech angel investment group in the USA, we have funded 400+ companies with 92 profitable M&A exits and 17 IPOs. The entire Band meets monthly in Silicon Valley to formally consider 3 startups selected from among the 50+ that are screened each month by the Band deal selection process. Additionally, to facilitate deal flow and engagement from Southern California to Northern California, we hold a Special Interest Group (SiG) meeting in Los Angeles for members and companies located there.

MENTORING

Most of the Band's investments receive mentoring and guidance from Band members. The industry-specific Special Interest Groups (SiGs) meet monthly and Mentor Day is a key annual event where startups receive one-on-one mentoring.

Kate Garrett and Suresh Pai, CEOs of recently exited Ciel Medical and Cogent — Kate Garrett and Suresh Pai, CEOs of portfolio exited companies Ciel Medical and Cogent

INVESTMENT

The Band meets monthly to formally consider 3 startups selected from among more than 60 that are screened each month by the deal selection process. Band members collaborate in the due diligence and invest as individuals.

COMMUNITY

The Band works well because of the exclusive and experienced nature of its membership. The members are generally successful high technology founders or executives that are interested in investing in high-risk startups.

“Over the past 10 years, the Band of Angels invested in both of my companies (Practice Fusion and iBeat). I have pitched hundreds of investors and found the Band to be more experienced, thoughtful, and effective than any other group.”

— Ryan Howard, Founder Practice Fusion & iBeat

Seed Stage Funding

Apply to Present

Giving innovation a chance!

There are many great programs that teach entrepreneurs how to be successful in raising venture capital – but Angels are not VCs and the same rules and expectations simply don’t apply. If you would like to learn more about presenting to the Band, please email deals@bandangels.com.

DEAL CRITERIA STATEMENT

The Band is primarily focused on seed stage high technology and life science companies with strong teams, proprietary technology, and big markets. We do not invest in real estate, restaurants, retail, or funds. The Band invests in the range of $300K to $750K, but often leads a syndication of $1-1.5M. The largest investment ever made by the Band was $3.3M in Sendmail in 1998. Valuation depends on many things but few companies successfully raise financing from the Band at valuations greater than $10M. To start the process, please complete this online application form.

REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS

The Band charges no fees from presenting companies. If you submit a plan for review to the Band it will be forwarded to a Pre-Screening Committee. This committee is made up of experts from every high tech category including agtech, digital media, fintech, life science/medtech, hardtech, software, and energy. The committee reviews close to 50 plans a month and selects 6 for an invitation to the Deal Screening, held on the last Wednesday of each month. There, 7 Band members (one from each major discipline) will ask you questions about the company for 15 minutes to better understand the printed material. The Deal Screening Committee selects 3 companies and a runner up, for presentation to the Band of Angels.

SELECTED COMPANIES PROCESS

The 3 selected companies present to the monthly Band of Angels Deal Dinner meeting held on the second Wednesday of the month in Los Altos. In the two weeks between the Deal Screening selection and presentation at the Band meetings, the companies receive free value-added preparatory services to help refine both the written and oral presentations in preparation for the Band presentation. The Band meets monthly from January to November; there are no presentation meetings in December.

Follow-up

Band members invest directly; they collaborate in the due diligence but make individual investment decisions. Within a week of their presentation, most companies that present to the Band would have scheduled a follow up meeting with interested members to start due diligence. This also provides an opportunity for an organized due diligence group of individual angels to be formed for the purpose of evaluating the company, negotiating a set of terms, and executing an investment. View the recent portfolio companies.

Angel Community

Attend a meeting

Membership is by invitation

Band members are generally successful high technology founders or executives, are accredited investors, and have an interest in mentoring and investing in high-risk startups. The Band works well because of the exclusive and experienced nature of its membership. The key advantages to the Band are improving your deal flow, having colleagues to share diligence and opinions, and distributing risk across a number of deals. A deal that garners investment from the Band gets much more than money. It gets the involvement of a group of individuals whose networks and experience can be much more valuable than their seed capital. Typically, every company that receives investment from the Band also gets a Band member to serve on the company's Board. If you would like to learn more about Band membership, please email BandHQ@bandangels.com.

MEMBERSHIP PROCESS

Membership in the Band is by invitation. Generally, one must be sponsored by a current member who knows the new member and can recommend them. Nevertheless, we do accept new members initially unknown to the group and all who fit the criteria and have an interest are encouraged to consider the group. Angel investors that are interested to apply for membership with the Band are invited to attend a Band Deal Dinner and a Special Interest Group (SiG) that is in the industry area of their expertise. View the calendar of upcoming meetings. The membership process includes completion of a Member Information Form and meeting with several members of the Membership Committee for informal conversations. These meetings are a great opportunity for prospective members to learn from the members about the Band process and their membership experience. It is readily apparent by all sides if a fit exists and, if so, an invitation is extended.

MEMBERSHIP REQUIREMENTS

The culture of the Band is to recognize that its members have led serious careers and can decide for themselves how best to use the opportunities made available through the Band. Hence, there are no firm performance criteria on the membership. Nevertheless, it is generally expected that members attend a third of the meetings, invest in one deal per year, help with diligence on potential investments, make their networks available to each other, keep confidential information confidential, and strive to maintain the Band’s conviviality.

MEMBERship BENEFITS

The Band provides its members enhanced deal flow, better due diligence, and the negotiating power of indirectly pooling capital. The group also provides a forum for fellowship of like minded successful people. Investing in seed stage companies is very risky. The Band brings together at one place and time some of the most successful people in Silicon Valley; folks who have walked the walk. By sharing their experiences and judgments the assessment of potential companies is quicker and more accurate. Each member is often a recognized source of capital in their own communities, so each brings to the Band a unique source of new deals.

Mentor Day

Receive no risk feedback about the readiness of your venture for angel investment

Each year, Band of Angels organizes an annual mentoring session for startups interested in raising Angel capital. Mentor Day is open to companies in any sector or industry. Startups are invited to sign up for a 45-minute meeting with one or more Band of Angels mentors to receive no-risk feedback about the readiness of their venture for Angel investment.

Who is this event for? Mentor Day is for startup founders considering raising Angel capital.

Format: Private one-on-one meeting between a startup founder and one or more Band of Angels members. Concurrently, Hanson Bridgett attorneys will hold mentoring sessions on legal topics.

“I thought it was fantastic. I am so greatful that Band put this event on and that you invited my company to participate. I felt it was super useful and the mentors with whom I was paired were great!”

— Billy Dalto, Founder & CEO of 25hours

“Probably one of the most useful startup events I have ever attended. Everything was very direct and straight forward, and I felt the mentors were well matched to my business area.”

— Daniel Loftus, Founder & CEO of UrbanFox