1000 Angels

1000 Angels is devoted to transforming traditional investors into tech savvy funders to solve the innovation funding gap in the Philippines.

1000 Angels strongly recognizes several things in the nascent yet vibrant Philippine tech start-up ecosystem.

One – there still exists a gap between funders and founders. Most start-ups are in the seed and early stages. Even with access to venture capital funding, VCs prefer mature start-ups that have proven market traction and a working revenue model.

HOWEVER, Filipino tech savvy funders have voiced out that there is capital available; the question is: how to unleash it?

Two – tech savvy investors have noticed a movement among traditional investors indicating an interest and inclination for tech start-ups. These traditional investors are high net-worth individuals coming from well-known families, which also own and operate the top companies in the country.

HOWEVER, they have to be thoroughly educated on the nature of tech start-ups (i.e. these are high-risk investments BUT high on return) and the process of investing in them. How to make them understand that they are investing in a team in exchange for equity? How to make them active, hands-on investors to the point that they are mentoring and advising upcoming entrepreneurs such as themselves? AND, they cannot expect an ROI?

With these observations (and these have been validated to a great extent), 1000 Angels aims to help transition and transform them into tech-savvy investors. Doing so requires orienting them on the state of the Philippine start-up ecosystem, heavily educating them on the nature of investing in high-impact technology enterprises and teams of the country, and introducing them to quality and fundable start-ups. 

Programs:

As such, 1000 Angels offers capacity-building programs for both investors and start-ups.

Investors, as members of the network, are offered Investor Education sessions, especially for first-time angel investors. They are asked to accomplish a profile sheet to determine their interest (i.e. verticals/ sectors), risk appetite and investment size.

New angels get to mingle and mix with veteran tech savvy angels, learning from their experiences in angel investing. They also are introduced to start-up founders, who have steered their enterprises into profitable companies, proving the competitiveness, effectiveness and affordability of their revenue model and have disrupted the client market  and converting them into actually using their service and product to deal with an existing painpoint.

The Investor Education sessions are offered either as a private-run or a public offering.

Start-ups on the other hand take part in the Halo Sessions. These are designed to find the most promising start-ups with innovative ideas worth investing in.

1000 Angels releases a call for start-ups to apply for the scheduled Halo Session and spend time with the founding team in a practice session.

The performance during the practice session demonstrates the readiness of the start-up for investor funding. 1000 Angels can provide mentoring and practice for start-ups to make a strong pitch for the angels in attendance. The best pitches are highlighted for investors to take a closer look – and hopefully lead to negotiations and a succesful deal.

1000 Angels offers due diligence for its investors in the event they cannot afford to put together a team of lawyers and analysts.

Business Model:

The organization leverages its professional network of investors and start-ups as the means to generate income. There are two approaches for this, differing for investors and start-ups.

Start-ups enter an agreement with 1000 Angels; similar to a consultancy. For successful closed funding rounds,  the start-up awards 5% of the cash or equity or a mix of both to 1000 Angels.

1000 Angels generates income from investors from program fees and registration fees for its events and programs. Over time, 1000 Angels can ask investors for membership fees to enable the network to operate efficiently and effectively in order to add more value and benefits.

1000 Angels also brings in income from funding availed from government and grant-giving agencies, and company sponsorships.

Go-to-Market Strategy:

1000 Angels taps the market through word-of-mouth, networking events, and new media such as the Internet. These take advantage of the personal connections the team and its trustees have built.

In reaching out to start-ups looking for investors, 1000 Angels connects with them through the partnerships it establishes with business incubators and accelerators. These can include initiatives set up by the private sector, as well as the public sector and the academe. Start-up groups and co-working spaces also are important sources for start-up contacts.

1000 Angels can harness its own social capital for finding investors, using the personal contacts of the group. These are built through the team’s own diverse personal and professional backgrounds.

1000 Angels can also take advantage of patnerships with business clubs, investment associations, financial institutions, chambers of commerce, university alumni groups, and more. These allow 1000 Angels to expand their links to interested investors who may work with the organization. 

• Philippines