Shortage of capital is a common problem in Ottawa, says Laurie Davis, managing director of the Capital Angel Network, but finding interesting new companies in the Ottawa area is not.
Meetings bringing together entrepreneurs with angel investors will be hosted more often with the new funds, and the network can continue to build relationships with other angel investors outside of Ottawa.
“Generally, we don’t have enough resources in Ottawa to fully fund a company, so we often reach out to other angel groups to attract them to the deal as well,” Mr. Davis said, citing a recent trip to Boston, Mass. to help secure an investment for an Ottawa company as an example.
The money from the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario came out of its Investing in Business Innovation initiative, from which the Capital Angel Network applied for funds. Another branch of the program provides 50 per cent monetary matching of every investment made by an accredited angel investor. The local network has benefited from this program for the past year, Mr. Davis said.
Although $50,000 is not a large sum, it will make a difference locally.
“Things have started to pick up steam a little bit, so it all helps,” he said.
The Capital Angel Network is an incorporated, not-for-profit angel network in Ottawa working to form a base of active angel investors to respond to the needs of early-stage, entrepreneurial companies in the Ottawa area.
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Andrew ... I'd be more inclined to offer kudos if the Ottawa Capital Network were investing $50k in entrepreneur(s) rather than going to the government with tin cup out. Maybe I'm off base here but I thought the idea of Angel groups was to invest money in promising entrepreneurs rather than take handouts. More sad than praiseworthy IMHO. Will be really interested to find out how the justified the grant.