"A lot of early-stage companies don’t get to meet [partners at larger VC firms]," says Joshua Siegel, who co-founded Georgetown Angels along with fellow Hoya Andrew Romans (who just published
The Entreprenurial Guide to Venture Capital). "Angels don't get to meet them either."
Georgetown Angels, which is not affliated with Georgetown University, has held similar events in New York, San Francisco and in Menlo Park. "D.C. is one of the cities we're committing to," Siegel explains. "We're turning [the angel model] on its head. A lot of angel groups are hyper local. We've created a mechanism [whereby] angels can invest outside their local environment to diversify their risk profile."
Of the five startups selected to pitch at the D.C. event, Siegel says that one is District based, one is from Northern Virginia, one is from San Francisco, one is from New York and one has yet to be determined. "All [of the companies] utilize technology to disrupt their markets," he says. "One [company] in social media, one in mobile apps, one in SAAS and so on."
The end goal, Siegel says, is always to get commitments for funding from the accredited investors at the event. Georgetown Angels' past events have resulted in funding for seven startups, and two other companies are in the process of closing deals.
"We're always looking for additional angels to join us," Siegel says. "Our angels are in their late 30s to mid 50s, still active in the workforce and have industry expertise, which [gives us] a broad relationship network to leverage."