As people mingled and Dr. Michael Burcham, Healthcare CEO, Strategist, Entrepreneur and Investor, regaled the crowd with tales of the history of Angel investing in Nashville, "The energy was electrifying" said Lucia Mar, local Angel investor. We heard about how hard it can be for an innovator to get the financial support they need to bring their solution to market, and how thoughtful investors can make all the difference.
Hosted in the same room as the kick-off of the capital raising campaign for the nonprofit Nashville Entrepreneur Center, WCBA hopes to raise $75k for its first year of operating expenses under its current 2YR growth plan. "I'm looking around" said Michael Burcham, "You have all the right people in the room."
Before closing the presentation, Karen Thomas shared some facts on the potential impact of recruiting more women Angels... she says "There are an estimated 300,000 women in the US who are eligible to be Angels today who are not participating in some form or fashion. If each of those women only invested 1 time in their lives at just an amount of $10,000, you are talking about a $3 Billion fund that could literally fund hundred of thousands of entrepreneurs (like a Michael Burcham) to bring the products and services to market that we want to see, and get us returns in the tens of Billions of dollars. This is not a small thing."
Not a small thing indeed. And it would seem that Nashville feels it too. In fact 115 people responded to the Women Can Be Angels' Inaugural Fundraiser held at Bass, Berry & Sims in Nashville. "While some were not able to attend in person, the response was far more than we had even hoped for." said Karen Thomas, Founder and Chair or the Board.
"We thought that being a new, unknown non-profit, we would have to prove ourselves before people really got behind us, but we were so amazed at the community turnout and the caliber of organizations who jumped on-board to support our mission by sponsoring the event (Guice Smith & Associates; Pinnacle Financial Partners; GrowthX; Peter Marcum; and Bass, Berry & Sims). We couldn't believe the outpouring of support. So many people attended despite a Predators' game, Startup Week, and other competing events."
"We have over $14,000 pledged or donated, as well as 13 new members and more than 50 people who want to get involved." said Karen Thomas. "We can't wait to see what 2019 will hold for us."
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