LINK-Caribbean Magazine

DevelopingAn Angel Investing Ecosystem

Central to developing an angel investing eco-system within the Caribbean is the creation of deal flow for potential business angels. That is a stream of fledgling early-stage businesses looking for investment to propel them to the next level. Business angels are always on the lookout for a business opportunity to invest in, a young business where they can inject not only their cash but also impart their knowledge and experience. Quite often you find business angel acting independently however, few angels have the time or financial resources to find and fully fund a portfolio of 10 or more companies by themselves. Instead, they often look to connect with other like-minded Angels to share the work and pool resources. These groups of Angel Investors come together under a common brand with defined rules of membership and conduct to collectively identify, review, select and evaluate Angel investments.

worth individuals to be business angels to Caribbean businesses. At the start of the LINK-Caribbean programme there were three Angel Groups, Alpha Angels, First Angels Jamaica (FAJ) and Trident Angels in Barbados. The establishment of a Caribbean Business Angel Network (CBAN) formerly known as RAIN, enabled the sharing of opportunities and the development of a true pan-Caribbean early-stage investment community. With the growing interest in angel investing business angels have come forward start angel groups in their countries such Renaissance in Trinidad and Tobago and a group is looking to form in the Bahamas. The connection of the different Angel groups has allowed for investment opportunities or deal flow to be shared between groups making it a win-win for both the business angels and the entrepreneurs looking for investment.

LINK-Caribbean set out to support the introduction of early-stage businesses to groups of angels and to also discover high-net