Angel Investors Remain Bullish

The angel investment field has continued to cruise ahead in the first half of 2005, according to new research from the University of New Hampshire’s Center for Venture Research. The Center’s tally of angel investing numbers in the first two quarters of 2005 finds that total investing levels reached $11 billion, on track to match last year’s total of $22.5 billion. A total of 126,000 individuals made angel investments over this period; this figure is a slight drop from last year. Angels continue to focus on early stage investing, with 48% of investments occurring in the start-up or seed stage. The research also identifies a large market of “latent angels” – individuals who are members of angel groups but who are not making investments. In fact, 66% of angel group members are latent angels. The researchers suggest this growing number of latent angels is a symptom of the large number of newly formed angel groups, and they recommend additional investor education to help latent angels become active investors.

To read The Angel Investor Market in 2005, Q1 and Q2: The Angel Market Sustains Investment Levels, by Jeffrey Sohl, of the University of New Hampshire’s Center for Venture Research, click here.