Conference organizers focus on need for more angel investors in the Valley

Jeff Saling is co-founder and executive director of StartUpNV.

Chip Rowe was on a mission to find an angel investor. At 70, the Henderson resident is the founder and CEO of a seed-stage startup company called Care Share Manager, a cloud-based scheduling and information-sharing system tailored for senior care facilities.

Care Share was one of a handful of seed-stage companies that pitched a room of potential backers at the Southern Nevada Angel Conference in early October at Las Vegas City Hall.

Rowe, with the help of nonprofit incubator StartUpNV, did his homework on how to talk to a group of investors.

It seems to have worked.

The promise of what Care Share could become was enough to secure a $50,000 investment from angel investor Mark Brennan, CEO of Brennan Capital Partners.

One of the founders of the now-defunct Vegas Valley Angels, Brennan was a featured speaker at the conference, which attracted about 160 attendees.

“Mark did his due diligence on us and then moved pretty quickly to get us that capital,” Rowe said. “We’re being very judicious with this initial investment. We need to use it to get our name out there and show our solution with people.”

A representative from a Canadian company also was impressed by Rowe’s talk. That company, Rowe said, may eventually invest as much as $500,000 in Care Share.

Jeff Saling, co-founder and executive director of StartUpNV, said the goal of the inaugural Southern Nevada Angel Conference was to give Nevada’s startup community a jolt and raise awareness of investor options.

“Of the 10 companies that presented [at the conference], five of them raised a total of $1.25 million,” Saling said. “We’re pretty happy that we had as many people as we did. We seem to have energized not only the startup community generally, but the angel community, especially in Las Vegas, as well.”

Often referred to as angels, early-stage company investors are typically wealthy individuals who have money and plenty of time to wait for companies to develop.

Bill Payne, an active angel investor and another founding member of the old Vegas Valley Angels group, said high-risk investing isn’t for everyone.

“Very few people do angel investing full time,” Payne said. “It’s sort of a fun thing to do with 2% to 5% of your net worth. Even though returns can be significant, they can also be spotty.”

But from the top levels of state government down to individual investors, Payne said he believes there is an understanding of what a more diverse economy could do for Nevada.

“We’re never going to be a software mecca that competes with gaming and hospitality here, but it could be very supportive and complementary,” Payne said.

Bill Arent, director of the City of Las Vegas’ economic and urban development department, agreed.

“Las Vegas is making great strides in growing its startup ecosystem,” Arent said. “Having more angel investors here will help attract even more startups.”

While angel investment dollars for local companies don’t necessarily have to come from Southern Nevada, Payne said there’s a need for the next generation of angel investors to make their mark here.

“Some of the more experienced angels we have in town are approaching or are in their 80s,” Payne, who is 78, said. “They’re just not willing to take it on. Take me, I’m not interested in starting another angel group, but I’d be an adviser to one. One of the things that has held us back in Las Vegas is the number of people who want to put the time and energy in.”

Payne said he’s been impressed with StartUpNV. For Saling, the hope is that the recent conference will serve as a springboard for more local investment.

While StartUpNV is a statewide organization, Saling said a federal grant secured by the organization last year targets Las Vegas, specifically.

“StartUpNV and the Southern Nevada Angel Conference are just steps in what could be maybe a decade-long journey to really create an active, inclusive and dynamic startup community in Las Vegas,” Saling said. “Communities around the country have done this. We can learn things from places like Austin [Texas] and Portland [Oregon]. We’re going to have to do our own version, though.”

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This story originally appeared in Las Vegas Weekly.

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