Melbourne Angels is an award winning Angel group, our members are men and women passionate about supporting start-up founders to build great companies that change the world for the better and deliver superior exits.
Since 2007 we have invested in more than 120 companies and over 200 rounds of investment for a total of more than $35m invested by our members in over 700 individual investments. Combined with the funds from co-investors those companies have received over $250m in funding and that has supported over 700 new, high-value, highly skilled jobs in Australia.
As a member-led, non-profit association, our members do the work. You will be engaging directly with experienced business people, sophisticated investors, all passionate to help you succeed.
Rapid growth, high value businesses are the core engine of national economic growth and the most effective pathway to introduce disruptive new technologies and business models.
Submit Your Opportunity
The best path into Melbourne Angels is a member willing to recommend your business to our Screening Team. Once you have reviewed our investment criteria, read about our process, completed your business plan with detailed financial projections and prepared your presentation you will be ready to submit your opportunity. If you cannot find, or do not know a member, we welcome applications via our collaboration platform, Gust.
To apply be ready to
Answer all the questions | Share a detailed business plan | Share detailed financials
The submission will take you about 20 minutes, if you are prepared in advance. Please review the information and FAQ on this web site before applying. Remember, we actively want to make investments and we do have the money. Your job is to help us understand why your opportunity is the one we can help win big.
A non-refundable charge of $175 (no GST) is incurred to submit you information for consideration. This fee has become necessary to ensure that your submission will not be crowded out by frivolous submissions that distract us from giving your submission the time and consideration you deserve.
We consider every application with a positive, optimistic and constructive mindset. We take the time to do more than just read what you write, or send to us. Our members will examine your market, assess the competition, check your numbers and, in short, conduct a professional first pass review based on the information you submit. We may also contact you as part of that first pass to make sure we have understood properly and to tease out information we are interested in that is not in your documents and/or cannot be found in any documents. That’s right, we are interested in you!! Thank you for taking the time to afford us the opportunity to join and assist you on your journey to success.
Is Angel investment right for my venture?
It is important that you understand who we are, how we operate, what we look for in potential investments and what we expect in return.
It is important that you understand who we are, how we operate, what we look for in potential investments and what we expect in return. Our members typically invest between $10,000 and $50,000 per transaction individually and from $100,000 to $500,000 as a group in each round. It is common for us to support our companies through multiple rounds. We usually do about 20 transactions per year with around half of those being follow-on rounds for our portfolio companies.
Angels are patient investors seeking capital returns from the sale of the company, usually in 5-6 years. During that time we expect to be active shareholders, contributing to your Board, coaching your team and leveraging our networks and expertise to help you succeed.
We align our success with founders’ success.
Melbourne Angels reviews hundreds of opportunities each year, taking around 80-100 into our formal process. Three to five new companies are selected each month to present to our monthly meeting of members. Successful companies will present at least twice, receiving pitch coaching and other mentoring all along the way.
Our Investment Criteria
Melbourne Angels chooses companies with the potential to be sustainable, scalable and successful businesses with strong exit appeal. We expect a validated proof-of-product/service poised for rapid growth. We choose ventures for which we have the experience and expertise to help optimise outcomes. We invest in a variety of business models and sectors using the following guidelines, understanding that your business need not match every criterion.
Geography
Prefer Victoria, will consider elsewhere in Australia and New Zealand. Out of state and international opportunities are best introduced to us by an Angel group/investor interested in the deal and local to the company.
Stage
Seed and beyond. At a minimum, you have a working prototype, have done substantial customer discovery, know what your business model will be and have started to explore your distribution channels.
Market Opportunity and Scalability
Our attention is taken by ventures with a large, accessible market opportunity with a demonstrated demand for your solution, or a clear potential for disruptive market entry. You’ll have a business strategy with a credible plan to acquire a significant market share and grow revenue to $20m+ within 3-5 years.
Funding
This round will buy 20% of the company as a fully priced round for a new class of shares.
We expect to invest $100k-$500k per round and can leverage our networks to syndicate the opportunity but, will only ever do that with your permission – it’s your company.
Pre-money valuations for Melbourne Angels seed rounds typically range from $1m to $2.5m. For more on valuation read our post.
Exit
We expect you to have given this some thought. Our preference is for an all cash trade sale that delivers at least a 10x return on our investment within 5-8 years based on the strategic value of the business to the acquirer.
Team
Our ideal team is ethical, honest, passionate, driven, energetic, talented and deeply experienced in the most relevant aspects of the business including the target market and sustainable differentiation enablers. We value diversity of thinking, relevant track record and look for a team that inspires others while being open to benefiting from the input provided by our Angel investors.
We expect all our companies to have an employee ownership participation scheme and that an adequate provision for that will be made from the equity pool before we invest.
Business Model
We are open to most business models. Our most successful companies have been deploying technology enabled solutions and/or technology/products to business customers.
Competition and Competitive Advantage
We get most interested in companies that demonstrate deep understanding of their customers and competitors. Demonstrable and sustainable differentiation that delivers a clear and compelling value proposition for each stakeholder in your distribution channel starting with your customer (the one who actually pays you) and out to the end user.
Intellectual Property
At the heart of your unfair competitive advantage will be your intellectual property. We don’t need you to have patents, although the potential to acquire patents is desirable to enhance the exit strategy.
Intellectual property is likely the key to early market entry and your initial competitive differentiation.
Technology
We prefer to invest in first-of-a-kind new ideas, rather than incremental enhancements to common products and services. Is this a nice-to-have, or a need-to-have product or service?
While highly complex, esoteric technologies demand caution, if the concept behind the technology is proven and verifiable we like breakthrough innovations with a strong business plan and comprehensive Go To Market plan.
Realistic Financial Projections
We expect detailed financial projections that provide rational, logical and achievable revenue projections to grow towards profitability. Granular analysis of cost structures, inflection points in the sensitivity of these structures to volume, margin, analysis with projected cash flow break-even, etc. Typically these are presented in (Excel format) performance statements (P&L), balance sheets and cash flow analyses with specifics for the use of funds to be raised in this round and expectations for future rounds of capital to realise growth, achieve breakeven and deliver an exit. Projections are usually for a minimum of three years with first year month-by-month, next two years quarter-by-quarter and any further years, year-by-year. Detail line items for both revenue and expenses to demonstrate use of funds and clarify assumptions.
Fit
Our members have significant executive and entrepreneurial experience in a variety of fields. One of the benefits of working with Angel investors is the active coaching and contact network that such investors provide. As such, there must be a fit between members of our group and your idea.
Further Information
Find videos, eBooks and articles for founders and investors on our resources page.