The Carlsen Center at Sac State and Rocklin accelerator the Growth Factory are offering a program to attract and train new angel investors in the region.
The AngelCon program will take people who are accredited investors and teach them the fundamentals of investing in startup companies, including sourcing companies, screening them and doing due diligence, said Cameron Law, executive director of The Carlsen Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship at California State University Sacramento.
“The core purpose for the program is to provide an on-ramp to learn while you’re doing it,” Law said.
Participants who qualify as accredited investors don’t have to pay to take the program, but they do have to commit to investing $5,000 in a startup company vetted by the program.
Accredited investors, who meet standards of affluence to show that they can bear financial risk, are allowed under securities law to invest in unregistered securities, such as the shares of startup companies.
The deadline for accredited investors to sign up is March 25, with the tuition to be paid by the California Office of the Small Business Advocate, which is part of the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development, or GO-Biz.
The local program is building on proven models that are in use at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and in San Diego, Law said.
AngelCon seeks to activate more early-stage investors, Law said, because Sacramento's startup ecosystem has a shortage of access to seed-stage money for entrepreneurs.
There is an active local investment group, the Sacramento Angels, but it covers a lot of territory. The Growth Factory is also working to engage more investors to consider investing in startups, which it calls the "backyard advantage." The Growth Factory managed to get nearly 100 mostly local investors to put money into its early-stage venture fund.
The investors who go through the program can invest in one of the startups that are also going through an accelerator program concurrently at the Carlsen Center. The investors will pick the best company in November during Global Entrepreneurship Week Sacramento.
At least a dozen interested parties have signed up for the program, which means there will be a pot of at least $60,000 for the most promising companies.
The AngelCon program will have two tracks: Investor Education and Startup Acceleration. Both will run April through November.
Under U.S. securities law, investors can qualify as accredited if they have a net worth over $1 million, not including the value of their residence; an annual income of at least $200,000 as an individual or $300,000 with a spouse or partner; if they're a licensed investment professional; or if they're an officer, director or partner in the securities-issuing company.
