WASHINGTON DC ARCHANGELS
Developing Company and Investor Relationships
About the Process
The Washington DC ArchAngels holds regular business meetings to present early stage companies to our investors. Unlike other angel investment groups, there are no pitch sessions. Instead, all investor meetings use an extensive process to better ensure better outcomes for both presenting companies and investors.
Company Qualifications
Of interest are any early stage companies that can scale globally and are at an inflection point that an investment will generate significant growth or revenue. Qualified companies may include included IT, biotech, life sciences, medical devices, clean tech, smart cities technology, energy, online services and many more.
Business Session Participation Requirements
Referrals: Washington DC ArchAngels (WDCA) only accepts application to present from companies that are referred by an active member of the WDCA investor network. NOTE: The entire process takes about two months and requires a great deal of time from both the company and WDCA founders. There is an administrative fee paid by the company to cover the time and effort needed to prepare for investor engagement.
Formal Application: Each company that has been referred for possible participation in a Business Session must complete an online application. Once Washington DC ArchAngels receives the referral, the company receives a link to a formal application to be completed. On submittal of the application, the company is then scheduled for a general introduction discussion or potential further vetting.
Vetting: Intensive vetting and discussion with the company is required to determine possible interest in a company's investment opportunity. If the initial vetting is positive, the company is then scheduled for an online interview lasting about ninety minutes. The video is then edited into a 8-10 minute presentation that is used, after receiving the company's written release, to introduce the company to investors. Based on the provided video and additional information about the company's business and investment proposition, the company is sent to selected Peer Review Team members for feedback and evaluation.
Peer Review Team Process:
Peer Review Team members review company materials and provide written feedback and evaluations of all submitted company materials. This feedback includes specific responses to strategic business issues and as well as written descriptions of related issues. This especially includes their basic impressions of what the company has accomplished to date and its investment potential. This information is then compiled as a report and sent to the company to prepare for one-on-one discussions in a ninety-minute Zoom Online Business Meeting or related event.
Online Business Meeting: Once the company has adapted a presentation to address the issues raised by Peer Review Team Members, a time and day is selected and scheduled for the Peer Review Team and other interested investors to participate in an Online Business Meeting. Lasting about ninety minutes, this business meeting is held online using Zoom and is fully recorded. NOTE: only one company is reviewed per meeting. Therefore, companies have more than one hour inform and discuss with investors that are extensively familiar with company details.
The entire process takes about two months and requires a great deal of time from both the company and WDCA founders. WDCA charges an administration fee to manage this peer review process.
Productive Company and Investor Engagement
Ideal Company Presentations
Washington DC ArchAngels highly prefer companies that have a completed product or service that is already generating revenue. (NOTE: biotech and life sciences have a different timeline to revenue).
About WDCA Investors
WDCA investors tend to be active and may require a Board of Directors seat if they make a significant investment. Although WDCA investors are generally industry agnostic, none have interest in real estate deals or franchises.
Most WDCA investors are highly experienced in investing in early stage companies and have invested actively in the past or have themselves been serial entrepreneurs. For more information about WDCA investors - Click Here.
How Investments are Executed
WDCA currently has more than 1200 members and at any given time about 300 or more are active. NOTE: All investments are made from personal funds. This means that each individual investor makes their own decision about any company presenting at a WDCA Online Business Session or related event. No investment is made as a group
or made through a group decision.
Final Note: Check Sizes
Since its launch in 2011, WDCA has seen investors make many investments, ranging from "high six figures" to a rare minimum of about $25,000. But more importantly, there are no promises or guarantees of receipt of any funding for presenting companies. The reason is that all companies are different, and all investors are looking for different things in a company, and that makes it impossible to provide anything like "odds”. Further, providing such numbers are not in accordance with SEC rules.