An Angel Investor is an individual who provides capital for a business start-up (when the business is first forming), usually in exchange for convertible debt or ownership equity.

Angel capital is critically important because it fills the gap in seed funding between "friends and family" and more robust institutional financing; allowing new business innovation to grow and thrive.

Federal legislation (enforced by the SEC) determines who is eligible to be an Angel investor. Although there are some exceptions (and some State-level rules that open eligibility), generally the minimum requirements to be an Accredited Investor are:

• Net worth of $1 million+ (not including your primary residence), OR

• Income of $200k annually (individual) or $300k annually (couple)

• Approximately 300,000 women in the US who are eligible to be Angel investors are not participating. If each of these women invested only $10,000 once, they would represent a $3B fund with potential returns around $60Billion. This means a lot of women are not benefiting from the massive investment return opportunity + a lot of pent-up capital is not being injected into the US innovation ecosystem.

• The reasons eligible women are not actively Angel investing are typically: (1) they don’t know about it to how to do it, or (2) they are misinformed about the requirements.

• Angel investing education typically occurs through word of mouth between close friends; and since most Angels are men whose close friends are often men, the awareness gap for women will not naturally close. Thus, a deliberate effort to educate women on Angel investing is necessary.

• WCBA got its start in September 2016 when our founder Karen Thomas began telling friends about Angel investing. Within a few months she was teaching 20 women which turned into an informal group. Then in 2017 the group grew to a few dozen women and caught the attention of Angel organizations with aligned missions who wanted to partner.

• Seeing the growing demand for Angel investor education, WCBA was officially registered as an organization in March 2018 and was granted 501(c)3 non-profit status in May 2018.

WCBA fills a gap at the very top of the investor development funnel. We are unique in that we:

• Exclusively focus on education. We maintain our trusted-advisor relationship because we do NOT invest or recommend specific investments or investing organizations.

• Train women who do not yet meet accredited or qualified investor criteria as well as those who do.

• WCBA’s mission is to support the US innovation ecosystem by developing the next generation of investors.

• We are a trusted advisor providing objective education and training on Angel investing.

• We do this through free informational sessions, our online magazine, networking, and working with Angel groups, networks and funds to offer opportunities to attend meetings, roadshows, and other presentations.

WCBA offers annual memberships. Currently WCBA only offers a Basic membership level which is free. This includes:

• Access to closed Facebook group

• Recommended reading – book of the month, curated online magazine (Women & Wealth)

• Annual Networking Fundraiser

• Angel Events Calendar

• Invitation to Partner events (pitches, roadshows, informational sessions)

• Invitation to WCBA events (coming 2019)

• WCBA - Angel Investing Intro course (coming soon)

WCBA is currently raising funds to develop its online training courses (in cooperation with ACA and other Angel training organizations).

In 2019 WCBA plans to offer a paid Membership which will include an advanced online training program, Mentorship and member-only events.

WCBA is open to anyone who:

• is currently eligible (meets investor criteria), OR

• believes they will become eligible within the next 3-5 years.

While our mission is to educate women, we welcome anyone who is interested in learning more about angel investing.

We offer several ways for Individuals and Organizations to get involved in WCBA. If you are interested in any of the following, contact us at WomenCanBeAngels@gmail.com.