Angel investors are private investors who typically not only invest capital but also contribute their business expertise/skills in early-stage businesses in exchange for a significant share in the company. They can be individuals, or be part of an angel network that engage in investing in businesses with high growth potential and in the industries that they are familiar with. That said, there are some business angels playing active roles in the business while others act as sleeping partners.
Angel investors are typically wealthy HNWIs or successful businessmen with an appetite for start-up companies with higher risk (but that are promising enough to yield higher returns), therefore your start-up should have high growth potential in order to win their favour.
The quantum that individual business angels invest lie between S$25K to S$100K, while angel groups invest much larger sums in the range of S$250K to S$750K. It has been shown that business angels in Singapore tend to invest in the business service, retail and hospitality sectors.
Angel investor networks like the Business Angel Network Southeast Asia (BANSEA) exist to match start-ups in the seed stage of enterprise formation with business angels. BANSEA invests in companies that offer exceptional opportunities for high returns on investment, which usually involves early-stage ventures with high growth potential, either in a developing market (especially in emerging markets) or in an existing market with international expansion capabilities, and that are sustainable in the long-run.
