Angel Capital Association and Young Entrepreneur Council Partner to Encourage Leading Angel-Entrepreneur Relations
New York, NY and Overland Park, KS – July 1, 2013. The Angel Capital Association (ACA), the leading trade association for accredited angel investors, and the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an organization dedicated to the success of young entrepreneurs announce today a partnership between the two organizations. The aim of the partnership is to better connect some of the nation’s most successful young entrepreneurs with leading angel investors to help strengthen and grow young companies.
“Strong relationships between entrepreneurs and angel investors are integral to the economy: Startups account for a significant portion of gross job creation in the US and angel investors are the leading supporters of outside equity raised by startups,” says Marianne Hudson, ACA executive director. “Through this partnership, we will actively work to strengthen the ties between young entrepreneurs and angel investors to cultivate even-stronger entrepreneurs.”
Both organizations are developing programs that will foster stronger ties between the two communities. Members of YEC and ACA will have access to a private LinkedIn group where angels and entrepreneurs can connect and have the opportunity to initiate ongoing relationships with one another. The group will act as a launching point for developing mentor-mentee relationships. “There’s no doubt that relationships between angel investors and entrepreneurs are critical for entrepreneurial growth,” says Hudson. This partnership should lead to interesting discussions, learning, and mentoring.”
One example of an existing, successful angel-entrepreneur relationship is from YEC Member, Ben Milne. Ben is the founder and CEO of Dwolla, a payment network that allows businesses and consumers to send, request and accept money. “Our angel investors have been mentors, testers, and advocates. They’ve each influenced Dwolla’s existence in subtle ways, guiding us to do better and helping us raise over $20 million in funding from some of the nation’s most insightful investors. ‘Angel’ is definitely the best word to describe them,” says Milne.
Both YEC and ACA understand the importance of providing resources and best practice sharing to members. Scott Gerber, founder of Young Entrepreneur Council shares his hopes for increasing mentorship to entrepreneurs. “Building an ongoing dialogue between ACA and YEC members will help our young founders innovate smarter and more efficiently—and create more jobs in the process. As such, I believe this partnership will pave the way for a stronger, more prosperous startup ecosystem overall,” says Gerber.
About Young Entrepreneur Council The Young Entrepreneur Council is an organization comprised of America’s most promising young entrepreneurs. YEC members hail from every market sector and industry and have, collectively, generated tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in revenue. YEC’s goal is to provide entrepreneurs with access to everything they need to succeed — today, and in the future. Twitter: @YEC
About Angel Capital Association The Angel Capital Association is the leading professional and trade association supporting the success of angel investors in high-growth, early-stage ventures. ACA provides professional development, industry voice, public policy advocacy and an array of benefits and resources to its membership of 200 angel groups and more than 8,500 individual accredited investors. www.angelcapitalassociation.org; Twitter: @ACAAngelCapital.
