Ten years ago, Dave and Sara Russick founded Gopher Angels after seeing a need for an organized group of angel investors in the Minnesota community, where members could collaborate, focus their investments and support entrepreneurs.
Now celebrating their 10th anniversary, they're taking stock of the impact Gopher Angels has made in the startup community.
So far, the group, consisting of more than 135 active angel investors, has invested over $22 million into 70 companies, two-thirds of which are located in Minnesota, according to a recent report provided to the Business Journal by the Russicks, who serve as managing directors of the group.
The Russicks attribute the ability of Gopher Angels to maintain its momentum to the group’s active engagement within the angel-investing community in Minnesota, the Midwest and beyond.
“The core of what we do is building our network of accredited investors, and we have such a strong networking group – they bring in acquaintances and friends who are also interested in this,” Dave Russick said. “This isn't a private club. This isn't just for a bunch of golf buddies. This is really an open door for any accredited investor to come in, learn about angel investing, and collaborate with the other investors in the network."
Members meet every other month and pay an annual fee of $1,850. They don’t pool their capital together into one fund; instead, each member chooses whether they want to be a part of an investment.
The group's portfolio includes companies like Omnia Fishing, Upsie and Oculogica.
Supporting entrepreneurs at early stages has been critical to furthering the group’s mission, said the Russicks, who previously founded their own company called Bagster.
“We have been entrepreneurs. We know what it's like,” Dave Russick said. "That's always been one of the core principles of what we do is to treat entrepreneurs, founders with respect [and] look for a win-win between investors and founders."
Matt Johnson, CEO and co-founder of Omnia Fishing, a Golden Valley-based tackle e-commerce platform, said Gopher Angels has introduced the company to a wider community of investors. The group was “one of the key pieces of our success,” he said.
Being part of the group enables members to meet investors with expertise in different industries, said Phil Miller, an angel investor who has been a member of Gopher Angels for about six years. And the ethos of the group goes beyond just seeking a return on investment, he added. “Most of the people want the economy and our region to have a … healthy startup scene,” Miller said.
By the numbers
From 2012 to 2022, Gopher Angels reports that it has:
- Invested more than $22 million in 70 companies, two-thirds of which are Minnesota companies; one-third are those in the Midwest region or those that have Minnesota ties
- Seen a return rate of 2.89 times that of invested capital (representing self-reported data) and seven company exits
- Provided 40% of invested dollars into companies founded by women or people of color
- Of the invested companies, 35% are software companies, 25% are medical device companies and 15% are health care companies
- Provided capital during the seed stage of funding 64% of the time; Series A, 25%; Series B, 9%; and Series C, 2%
