Welcome to the Prince George’s County hosting site for the Angel Capital Electronic Network (ACE-Net), an innovative Internet-based listing service providing information to angel investors on promising small businesses seeking to raise $250,000 to $5 million in equity financing. This program, sponsored by the Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy, seeks to use the relatively new technology of the Internet as a method of strengthening the ties between the small business community and the investment community.
For years, many small businesses have been started and built through the use of personal savings, help from friends and family, credit cards and small loans. But as the businesses become successful and seek capital to grow, countless entrepreneurs encounter the same problem - that the additional capital proves to be very elusive.
These promising enterprises are too big to continue to grow on personal savings and the like but normally too small to attract venture capitalists. This is the problem that ACE-Net addresses. By using the convenience and ubiquity of the Internet, ACE-Net serves as an organized and economic way for investors and entrepreneurs to find each other. An angel investor in California and an entrepreneur in Maine, using computer and modem, can seem as close to each other as next door.
The entrepreneurs using the ACE-Net network typically are looking for financing in the range of $250,000 to $5 million. Obviously, this is often more than people can obtain from personal finances or help from friends and family. On the other hand, the average venture capital deal involves sums of approximately $6.5 million. This leaves a critical gap for most of the promising companies throughout the country. Angel investors are the ideal way to fill this gap.
Angel investors are typically wealthy individuals with significant business experience. In addition to financial support, their business experience and advice can be of great value to the companies in which they invest.
ACE-Net permits enrolled investors to anonymously view, via the Internet, executive summaries and additional investment information provided by participating entrepreneurs. When an investor sees a deal of interest, the investor contacts the entrepreneur directly. Both entrepreneurs and investors enroll in ACE-Net through a regional Network Operator.
What can be gained from all this? Well, it is estimated that there are 250,000 angel investors who invest upwards of $20 billion annually in over 30,000 ventures. Estimates suggest that the number of POTENTIAL investors exceeds that number by a factor of five to ten. With this unique, nationwide, centralized listing service, that potential can be tapped for the thousands of entrepreneurs willing to supply the good ideas, hard work, commitment and discipline.
Source: Small Business Administration's Office
For more information, please visit the ACE-Net site.
