The Luis Villalobos Award recognizes the most ingenious and innovative ideas recently financed by members of the Angel Capital Association. Two category winners will be selected to attend the ACA Summit and honored live and throughout the event. The award is presented to the winning CEOs during the annual awards ceremony at the 2024 ACA Summit (May 13-15, 2024). Companies in all investment sectors are invited to participate and will be considered for one of two Category Winner opportunities.

The Angel Capital Association believes that data will make us better investors. ACA is committed to helping angels make informed decisions that will improve investment outcomes. The is why the ACA started the ACA Data initiative several years ago.

As angels, we see opportunities in many different industry verticals. We ask ourselves why some verticals produce better returns than others? This article looks at the experience that TCA Venture Group (formerly Tech Coast Angels) has had on all their 247 outcomes from 1997 – 2022 for insights.

The ACA holds a simple belief: educated investors are more successful investors. A core pillar of ACA’s mission is to provide our members the tools and resources necessary to successfully navigate the ever-evolving investment space in 2023 and beyond. We are pleased to work with Linqto, one of ACA’s key partners, to provide you with educational resources through its Linqto Learn program at no charge.

It is important to have realistic expectations on returns and timing when one begins the journey known as Angel Investing. One of those expectations is timing – shutdowns tend to come early and exits tend to come later. This was covered in an earlier ACA Data Insights.

"Simply put, if we don't support the ACA and campaigns like Seed the Future, who will?" - Ted Capossela.

By: Sonia Gioseffi, Partner, K&L Gates

The venture capital industry has exploded in both dollars and geography since its beginnings, as evidenced by an increase in the size of venture capital funds and the attraction of large pools of capital from institutional investors. 

By: Emily Angold, ACA Marketing Manager

As an entrepreneur and seasoned angel investor, Bill Payne understands the critical importance of education to make well-informed decisions that determine the success or failure of a startup.

By: Dror Futter, Legal and Business Adviser to Startups, Venture Capital Firms and Technology Companies

Remember all those articles about whether venture was overvalued?  With blinding speed, they now seem quaint.

Bluntly stated, most venture-backed companies are in a fight for survival.  Although certain areas of life sciences may do somewhat better, I think the impact will be widely felt.  Complicating the fight is the fact that no one can predict how long it will last and what the immediate post-Corona economy will look like. 

By: Kevin Learned and Denise Dunlap, Boise Angel Alliance

Terms like “warrants, waterfalls and preferences” can be confusing and intimidating when attempting to understand a capitalization table (aka cap table); it is no wonder we are often asked for a simple way to understand them! This article will give a brief overview of why cap tables are important and introduce a simple model to use early in the due diligence process.