The Atlanta Technology Angels invest in….?

I’ve used this blog to ruminate lately about issues that pique my interest, but I believe I need to come back to the above query I have heard quite a bit recently.

1.) Georgia Based Companies

A large majority (95%) of investors in ATA prefer to invest in Atlanta based or Georgia based companies. They prefer this primarily because many of these investors are biased towards Atlanta in specific and Georgia in general. Many are local and have had success in Atlanta and want to help create additional successful companies in Atlanta. These individuals are leaders and they understand that  a commitment is needed to Georgia for the long term success of the state and its various communities.

 2.) Technology Based Companies

That what we decided 8 years ago and that is what we like. There is also enough investment opportunities  in Atlanta that the investors do not need to go to other communities to find good opportunities. There is a minor perception in the Atlanta marketplace that we focus our investments primarily on enterprise software applications. Not so. Atlanta is a heavy software-based town–so it is natural that many investors with deep software experience would focus investments in that sector. However, we’ve branched out lately and have funded IT security, virtualization,  semiconductor based and VOIP opportunities. We’re also looking at a few medical device companies.

3.) “Seed” or Early Stage” investments

Done right, this is the investment stage where the highest returns are made. It is also the riskiest!

4.) Specific amounts at an early stage

We prefer $250,000 up to $750,000. These amounts make a difference in the long term sustainability of a young company. It also shows commitment by the investors to the company.

We prefer to syndicate our early investments with known partners and typically do not choose to be minority investors in larger rounds with unknown partners.

In the current market, we are comfortable investing at attractive valuations.

5.) Real companies with committed team members

We invest to build and grow, not speculate and flip.

6.) ATDC and Venturelab companies

Two top notch organizations in Atlanta that are well run and…undervalued. MIT and Stanford get all the recognition, but I’m betting that these  two organizations at GaTech are well known in the investment world. NEA thought so just recently!