Austin isn't stacked with big time venture capital firms like Silicon Valley. But, last year, it was home to the most active individual angel investment group in the nation.
The Central Texas Angel Network's 150 accredited investors funneled more than $13.3 million into 43 startups in 2015. Of those, 20 were new investments and the rest were follow-ons. While that's a 30 percent boost in activity compared to 2014, the total amount invested was slightly less than the $14.6 million logged in 2014, CTAN announced today.
Exists, meanwhile, were on the climb. Seven CTAN-backed companies were acquired in 2015, which was about double the amount of exits the network has seen since the network formed in 2006.
The network's 2015 activity made it the third most active angel investment group in the nation, according to the Angel Resource Institute at Willamette University in Oregon. The top two networks -- Keiretsu Forum and Tech Coast Angels -- were more active. But they have multiple chapters, distinguishing them from single-chapter networks like CTAN.
Rounding out the top five were the Houston Angel Network and the Alliance of Angels & New York Angels, which tied for the fifth ranking. (See full report in PDF)
In the past decade, CTAN members have poured about $68.4 million into 127 companies.
CTAN's increased activity comes at a time when many Austin area entreprenuers and investors have been debating whether Austin's venture capital networks can provide enough fuel for its rapidly increasing number of startups and provide the type of growth funding that's often required to compete on a national or global scale.
Rob Neville, co-founder and CEO Savara Pharmaceuticals, which has received CTAN investment, said that angel networks play an increasingly important role for new and maturing companies. His company, for example, has raised nearly $40 million from 30 angel groups worldwide.
“Typically you expect to only seek later rounds from VCs, but our work with groups like CTAN demonstrates how angels are now stepping up for later rounds well beyond the seed stage," he said in a news release. “While we never eliminated VC’s as a source of financing, the momentum within the angel community, and at CTAN specifically, carried us much further than expected."
