Angel investors are usually multimillionaires – often self-made, cashed-out entrepreneurs.  They have additional capital and business experience, and they're not ready to retire.

They want to be involved with start-ups without the sleepless nights of start-ups.

In 2005, angels invested $23.1 billion in 49,500 entrepreneurial businesses in the US.

The average angel investor is a 49-year-old male with a post-graduate degree and management experience ill an entrepreneurial venture. However, the face of angel investors is changing. Most recently, the investors are younger and more of them are females.

Angel investors prefer to invest in local ventures (no more than 150 miles away), so they can play an active role and monitor then- investments. They often finance manufacturing or product-oriented ventures, especially in high-tech fields.

Angel investment rounds usually range from $250,000 to $2 million. Individual angels typically invest approximately $40,000 to $100,000 in each deal.

Most angel investors are successful entrepreneurs, so besides financial support, many also provide business expertise and connections to the companies they fund.

Angel investors look for companies with strong growth potential, proven management teams and sufficient information about related markets so then- value call be assessed.

Angel investors expect high returns for their higher-risk investments – on average, 10 to 40 times ROI.

Angel investors are private, accredited investors. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) defines accredited investors as having S 1 million in net worth (excluding residence) or an annual income o1' more than $200,000 (or $300,000 with a spouse).

There are an estimated 20 million prospective angels nationwide, with about 227,000 angels actively investing (in 2005).   Those 227,000 angels are investing more than $23 billion per year in 50,000 small, start-up companies.

Previously, most of the national angel investment activity has been clustered on the coasts. That is changing as more and more accredited investors throughout the country get into it.  We hope Shark Tank TV Show will add more investors to the mix!

Angel investing helps fuel the economy and creates new jobs. It is the largest private source of capital for early stage entrepreneurs, and it is the most likely source of seed and early-stage capital.

Amazon.com is one of the most well-known companies to start with angel investment funding.

Two of the earliest known angel investors were Thomas Sanders and Gardiner Greene Hubbard. They provided funding for Alexander Graham Bell to complete initial experiments and development of the telephone in 1874.   They invested $40,000 to form the Bell Telephone Co. of Boston and realized all excellent return.