SSTI Digest

In 2014, Angel groups in the Great Lakes region invested more dollars than anywhere else in the country, 17.2 percent of the U.S. total, including angel groups in California (17 percent). This marks the first time a U.S. region other than California led in dollars invested by angel groups since the Halo Report has started to track angel investments.  Rob Wiltbank, an author of the report, indicated that the Great Lakes region’s activity was driven by several large investments made by angel groups. The Angel Resource Institute’s 2014 Annual Halo Report data is based on 870 deals totaling $1.65 billion in total rounds including co-investors.

Increase was the key word used in the 2014 Annual Halo Report. The authors found that 2014 was a busy year for Angel groups across the country:

The Small Business Administration (SBA) announced a new pilot program that will to support more than 1,000 startup and earlystage firms across the country. The goal of the Entrepreneurial Mentor Corps' (EMC) is to mobilize members of the current generation of successful business owners to mentor and support startups and entrepreneurs to help them become the next generation of great American companies. In February, SBA Administrator Karen Mills announced one of the EMC's first initiatives to match approximately 100 clean energy startups with mentors. Four regional ‘accelerators’ will identify and match mentors with the clean energy startups. The four accelerators funded in the initial stage of the EMC's clean energy project include:

• CleanTech Open (Bay area and New England);
• CleanTECH San Diego (Southern California and the Southwest);
• Clean Energy Trust (Midwest); and,
• Nevada Institute for Renewable Energy Commercialization (Mountain Region).

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Despite small improvements, Northeast and Midwest regions lag behind the South and West in terms of dollars returned to states from taxes sent to Washington, according to a report issued by the Northeast-Midwest Institute.

The Northeast-Midwest region’s return on every tax dollar was $0.88, while the South received an estimated $1.18 in federal spending for every dollar sent to Washington and the West had a return of $1.01, according to Flow of Federal Funds to the States: Fiscal 1999.



Other highlights include:

In the June 11, 1999 SSTI Weekly Digest, a mistake was made. The Great Midwest Venture Capital Conference has not yet selected any of the 30 presenting companies for the 1999 conference. The deadline for applications is August 27. More information on the registration process can be found at the conference website: www.greatmidwestvcc.com