Angel investing is a personally rewarding activity, and can deliver great investment returns. But where do you start? Angel investing is not an easy game to learn. Find out how Leapfunder’s Angel Clinic can help you kickstart it.

Regional Skills Gap

Many regions have great potential to become Angel investment hotspots. There is enough wealth accumulated, and the local entrepreneurs have good ideas. But the innovation eco-system still doesn’t take off, because there is a skills gap. 

Converting good ideas into real companies is not an easy task. When too many mistakes are made in the early stages, failure rates increase beyond the critical level. And that can make pre-seed and seed investing unsustainable.

The skills gap is often present on the side of investors as well as the entrepreneurs. It is a strange thing that the market is saturated with training programs for entrepreneurs in the form of accelerators, bootcamps, incubators, etc., but there is very little solid basic training available for Angel investors.

An Incubator for Investors

Change is coming! NextMannheim has been a pioneer in bringing coherent Angel education into the Mannheim/ Neckar regional ecosystem. They invited dozens of potential Angel investors from their region to attend a half-day training session in their offices. Attendance was high, and experiences were highly positive. As the director of Next Mannheim commented:

“Inspired by our long-standing “Angel in Residence”, Christoph Räthke, we had a clear objective: to attract more private investors who actively support the growing startup scene in our region. Many people are willing to contribute to innovation with both expertise and capital — the real barrier is often uncertainty about how to get started.

The Angel Clinic addressed exactly this challenge. It provided a proven toolkit, a clear structure, and excellent guidance from Tienko Rasker. The impact was very tangible: out of 25 participants, around 10 immediately connected with our regional network and continued with concrete startup matchmaking conversations. This showed us how powerful hands-on, locally embedded angel education can be.

As a professional focused on building strong innovation ecosystems, I highly recommend the Angel Clinic training. Its hands-on format and real-world focus make it an outstanding learning experience. Whether you are just starting out or already an experienced expert, the training delivers practical value at every level.” Eva-Maria Markutzik, the Lead and Community Manager at the MAFINEX Technology Center in Mannheim

Participating investors rated the training 4.6/5 likely to recommend to others, and the majority felt enabled to start their Angel investing career. Participants in the training commented:

“Very good workshops. It’s a very broad field to start out in, and entrepreneurial experience only helps to a limited extent. Many thanks for the practical experience.” – Participant

“Tienko Rasker is an excellent explainer with a vast knowledge of angel investing. Compliments on his approach and teachings. There are common mistakes you can prevent by learning from other failures and spending time with investors who’ve done this many times before. Perhaps this could save you some growing pain money.” – Participant

“Even after investing for many years, there’s still a lot to learn from Tienko Rasker” – Participant

The training was facilitated by Leapfunder, and supported by several Angel local investors and experienced investors from Berlin. 

Leapfunder used anonymized case studies from their hundreds of portfolio companies and thousands of active Angels. That way, case materials were based on real-life stories, which means that investors in the training know they are gaining real-world experience.

The Angel investors present opened up about their personal approach to managing dealflow, picking investments, and their best exit success stories and horror stories. Social networking amongst investors is quite important. It is common for Angels to have regular investment buddies. Facilitating social exchange is critical to growing an active Angel scene.

Want This in Your Region?

After the success of Mannheim, participants felt that we should make this approach available everywhere. Get in touch – email us at info@leapfunder.com! This training should hopefully give a boost wherever you are, so let’s organize one together.

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