Seed Capital From Angel Investors: Chris Rivera, Co-Founder, WINGS, The Washington Medical Technology Angel Network (Part 2)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

Chris: Another major difference of the WINGS network is all of our angels come from a medical tech, devices, or biotech background. So, they’re not afraid of and they understand the regulatory challenges.

One of the challenges we had with some local angels is that a lot of them made their money in software; some came out of Microsoft or Starbucks or Amazon. So, any time they would hear the initials FDA [Food and Drug Administration], they didn’t know what to do and walked away. Companies were having a tough time getting local angel money, and that’s why there was a need for WINGS.

Irina: Does the WINGS abbreviation stand for anything?

Chris: No, it doesn’t. We liked the name so much because it’s a play on the angel network.

Irina: What’s your geographical focus?

Chris: We initially said it was going to be Washington [state]. That being said, we’ve had applications come in from not only all over the U.S., including the East Coast, but from other countries.

The board, I think, is open to look at applications from outside of the local region. One of our presenting companies from a few weeks ago came from Idaho. It’s still in the Northwest, but it’s not in the state of Washington.

I think the screening committee and the board will ultimately pick the best potential deals, the ones that are the most fundable, and the ones that have the best risk profile and opportunity to get an exit.

The good news is there’s enough deal flow that the screening committee and the board can sift through the best technologies and the best potential deals.

Irina: How many angels do you have right now?

Chris: We have a list of about 150. I would say probably a third have signed up.

Irina: So, it’s about 50 angels. And they invest their own money, right? There’s no fund or anything like that?

Chris: That’s correct. We hope over time to be able to maybe establish a sidecar fund; I hope after we get some traction under our belts we’ll be able to do that.

Irina: Where do you get your deal flow?

Chris: It’s all local. We have very good relationships with the local universities and the tech transfer offices, where a lot of the companies are spun out of. Typically, they will point entrepreneurs in our direction when they’re getting to the point where they’re starting to look for early stage capital.

We also at the WBBA provide pro bono consulting services to startup companies. So, we get a lot of companies that come to us for that, and when they get to the point where they start to have their business plans put together and they’ve figured out what they’re going to need from capitalization standpoint, we’ll also tell them about WINGS, and they’ll submit their applications.

We have a large regional conference here every March, and WINGS was present at that last year as well.

I think that companies from out of state are going to have a little more of a challenge just because, as the saying goes, a lot of investment is local. Most of our angels who have been active through WINGS have gotten involved in the companies. They’ve joined the board, they’ve brought management to the teams, they’ve actually gotten involved in assessing the technology or the business strategies or whatever.

But we let them apply. There’s no charge to apply. Right now there aren’t any reasons for which they shouldn’t apply other than they’re probably going to have a bit of an uphill battle compared to a company that may have a similar type of risk-reward profile but is based in the local community.

Irina: Do you charge entrepreneurs any fees at any time?

Chris: No. We don’t charge them at all. All the pro bono consulting we provide is offered and paid for through our membership, the members of the WBBA. We’ll meet with companies as long as there’s value on both sides.

Irina: Who does the pro bono consulting you offer?

Chris: We have a contract consultant, Stewart Parker. She used to be the CEO of Targeted Genetics. So, she’s here in our offices every week, and she’ll meet with companies. Some of them are WINGS applicants, and some of them are in other stages of development.

This segment is part 2 in the series : Seed Capital From Angel Investors: Chris Rivera, Co-Founder, WINGS, The Washington Medical Technology Angel Network
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