The Seattle Angel Conference process runs approximately 2 months from the time we finish accepting new entrepreneur applicants to the actual day of the Conference and the awarding of the investment to one finalist.
Any entrepreneur or company with a great idea for a new startup business can apply to the upcoming Seattle Angel Conference.
The Angel Conference is virtual on several platforms--primarily ZOOM. The Angel conference has three main phases.
First, Education: We hold workshops which address some of the basic issues around Angel Investing. These workshops are for both founders and those interested in angel investing in the region. Find details about the workshops and register on Meetup:
https://meetup.com/Seattle-AngelSecondly, Company Evaluation. After the initial education workshop phase, the investors gather with the applying companies and work to select the companies they want to explore further. This follows an American Idol style process. We typically get 60 companies that apply. We read the company profiles, talk with founders, listen to 1 minute pitches, and select 24 Quarter Finalists. Then we hear 3 minute pitches and have a little bit of Q+A, to select the 12 Semi-Finalists. After 10 minute pitches, we select the 6 Finalists.
The third phase is to conduct due diligence on each of these Finalist companies, exploring their Team, their financial discipline and their market engagement. All of the investors are divided into teams, which then explore the companies in detail. At the end of this process, we hold a large "Demo Day" style event, where the investors decide which among the Finalist companies they will invest in with the fund that was raised.
We typically have 30-40 investors, with a $5000 contribution to a common Fund. That fund is held in an LLC.
The winner of the Seattle Angel Conference is publicly presented at the closing of the event.