North Carolina

Angel networks target financing gap.

The Minnesota Investment Network Corp. is establishing up to 10 Regional Angel Investment Networks (RAINs) to serve Minnesota entrepreneurs located outside the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area. The networks of accredited angel investors will have capitalizations ranging from $500,000 to $1 million. Currently the Lake Venture group in Northwest Minnesota is the only RAIN operating; the other nine are expected to be up and running within the next two years.

The networks will invest in three kinds of companies: early-stage ventures needing seed money, start-ups with some sales, and small or midsized companies that have $5 million to $25 million in sales and need capital for expansion, a turnaround or an ownership change. All firms must either be located entirely in a rural area or have a strong presence (such as a manufacturing plant) there.

Individual RAINs are expected to invest $50,000 to $100,000 per company. Once all the networks are up and running, though, organizers anticipate some may join forces to make investments in the $250,000 to $1 million range.

For more information on RAINs, call (612)672-3474.

This article was originally published in the August 1999 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: North Carolina.