NEWCASTLE founded, national startup accelerator Slingshot has been enlisted by regional innovation driver Hunter iF to run a series of seminars on how to become an angel investor.
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Hunter iF project coordinator Richard Christian said the seminars would help traditional investors move from a risk-averse mindset to a more risk-embracing reality, and open up more avenues in the Hunter for financing of early-stage innovation businesses and projects.
"Hunter iF has identified a need to provide targeted investment training that will build local investor capability and expand the number and diversity of angel investors in the Hunter to support the brilliant, growing number of startups and scaleups popping up," he said.
Slingshot founder Trent Bagnall said the free seminars, which begin on June 18, were designed for both new and experienced investors who would learn about the investment cycle, where to find good investment opportunities, risks attached and how to exit successfully.
Mr Bagnall said angel investors typically had business and property interests.
"The main issue is not that they don't want to be an angel investor, they just don't know how ... or how to go about it," he said.
Education was vital to give potential investors an idea of the process involved, and included case studies such as Hunter-founded start-ups including Camplify.
"People see Camplify and think it's all been invested in by venture capital and outside their sphere - that's not the case," Mr Bagnall said.
Camplify CEO Justin Hales said the company would not have been able to build its initial web platform without nine Hunter angel investors who each invested between $10,000 and $120,000.
"Without it we wouldn't have build it and build it at speed, it would have otherwise taken years of bootstrapping," he says.
He said each angel investor had achieved at least 10 times their initial investment. Beyond finance, their mentoring was valuable: "We had two in particular who came onto our board who have helped us through with governance and business advice."
Details at https://startupinvestingmasterclass.eventbrite.com.au