On August 25, 2016, we held our sixth Hera Fund Wingpact Conversation. Our guest this month was Christine Emilie Lim, in a discussion about “Investing in Emerging Economies.”

Silvia Mah, along with Christine, led this information-packed session. Christine Lim is a Founding Partner of Wingpact, and wrote a section in Impact With Wings about this topic. Silvia Mah is the founder and CEO of Hera Labs and Hera Angels, and has a personal interest in supporting women entrepreneurs globally. Silvia is from Venezuela, Christine is from the Philippines, and other Wingpact partners are from Hong Kong, India, and Argentina, so this is a very globally focused group of women.

Christine started by talking about how angel investing is nascent in emerging economies. One opportunity that is taking off is diaspora investing, where people living around the globe invest in companies in their home country.

Diaspora investing is a great way to invest with positive social impact. Many of the entrepreneurs on the ground in developing countries are solving community issues in areas like education, food, sustainability, and health care. Silvia pointed out that it is great to support people on the ground who are creating their own solutions, rather than implement solutions from afar, which does not always work. On the other hand, Christine brought up some examples of US-originated solutions which have been adapted by entrepreneurs in other countries, such as on-demand car apps adapted to on-demand motor bikes. Another dynamic is that many foreign-educated ex-patriots are returning to their home countries to address their community’s challenges through entrepreneurship.

These social-impact solutions can have a high rate of return in addition to strengthening communities. For example, the peer-to-peer payments market in Africa can really scale widely. On-demand doctors and medical services is another big need that market-based solutions are addressing.

The government role in entrepreneurship varies widely in the set of countries that Christine and Silvia know about. Aside from growing government resources, global partners are also stepping in to fund and support activities for these emerging innovation ecosystems.

Many countries have angel groups, and there is a great need for education about startup practices and how equity investing works. There are more and more opportunities for us to mentor across borders, through conferences and other programs.  Geeks on a Plane from 500 Startups brings global investors to international startup scenes to explore cross-border opportunities.

Angel investors need to work to find deal flow in the areas they are passionate about. Toniic is a great resource for finding good social impact deal flow in emerging markets.  If you are investing from a distance, it’s considered best practice to find local partners to help you conduct due diligence. Many entrepreneurs and local partners come from a traditional business background and are not used to thinking about high growth.  Investors from more developed ecosystems can help encourage entrepreneurs and local partners to think bigger.

We have a special interest in the many women around the globe starting businesses to support their families and meet needs in their communities - we want to encourage these women to think about larger scale. We can also help by bringing these emerging businesses exposure to international markets. When entrepreneurs start to understand their international scaling opportunity, this makes them more attractive to savvy global investors.

Silvia and Christine discussed how there is a need for more resources to connect angel investors with entrepreneurs globally. There are social impact funds and some training and mentoring opportunities for business owners in developing economies. Pitch competitions in the US are starting to feature international businesses. We are seeing more and more investor trips, for example Ingressive’s Tour of Tech through which Wingpact’s Suzanne Andrews learned about the exploding entrepreneurship scene in Nigeria. However, these resources are just the tip of the iceberg in what could be done to connect investors and entrepreneurs globally.

Some resources:

Watch for upcoming new fund announcements from Rising Tide, which is looking at providing a variety of learn-by-doing opportunities for global investing.

Barefoot In Business is raising global awareness and funding for Ugandan women entrepreneurs. Watch for Wingpact participation in the November 18 release in New York during Global Entrepreneurship Week.

The #WEMENA thread on Twitter is a resource for women entrepreneurs in the MENA region and Silvia follows this as an interested global investor.

A final question Christine emphasized is how to insure that the investor mix in emerging innovation ecosystems is diverse in terms of gender from the very beginning.  Nascent angel communities tend to be predominantly male. We want to avoid the problem we have in Silicon Valley, where the ecosystem is quite mature, and now we need to retrofit our structures to include women. How to build a gender-equal system from the ground up is a big open question at this time.

Silvia closed by reminding us that as women, we invest in what we are passionate about, and we want to lift up the women doing great work all around the world.

You can view the entire 1-hour conversation on Hera Lab’s YouTube channel.

Wingpact has written the first book about angel investing for women, Impact With Wings: Stories to Inspire and Mobilize Women Investors and Entrepreneurs.  Follow Wingpact on our website or on Twitter at @Wingpact.

Hera Fund is the creator of the Hera Venture Summit, which this year on September 17 was an inspiring gathering of women angel investors from all over the country and around the world.

This post simultaneously published on Suzanne Andrews' blog, Bring Your Own Table.

On July 21, 2016, we held another in our series of Hera Fund Wingpact Conversations with Angel Investors, featuring angel investor Amy Chang. Amy is a great example of the many new women angel investors we now have in the ecosystem who are actively bringing their passion, vision, and financial clout to building the future. This conversation was hosted by Silvia Mah, Founding Partner of Hera Fund, and Suzanne Andrews, Founding Partner of Wingpact.

Amy shared her experience working with angel groups and why she sees angel networks as a crucial resource.

When considering whether to join angel groups or work as a solo angel, it is important to think about deal flow, or the number of investment opportunities that you are exposed to on a regular basis. Angels typically need to look at 30 to 40 companies before finding one to invest in. One of the biggest advantages of angel groups is that they go a long way toward bringing you this level of deal flow, since groups attract a lot of companies and have systems to manage the volume and share the good deals with their members.

Amy has found that her involvement in angel groups also increases her deal flow informally. Often, companies come to Amy’s attention through the personal contacts she makes in groups, outside the formalized angel group process.  Angel investors like to introduce companies to each other.

Another reason angel networks increase your deal flow is that they tend to use deal-tracking technologies like Gust, which give you access to investible companies all around the country.

Another great advantage of angel groups, besides deal flow, is the positive impact on the due diligence process, when angels investigate a promising company deeply in order to make a fully informed investment decision. Groups have a built-in pool of people to share the due diligence work with. Also, angel groups have access to due diligence reports done by other angel groups. This sharing of information makes the process more efficient for investors, and for entrepreneurs as well. Plus, you can draw on the skill sets of all the group members for evaluating the many aspects of companies. If you are a new investor, your access to the expertise of experienced angels is invaluable.

Angel groups that Amy is involved in in the San Diego area include Kieretsu Forum, Tech Coast Angels, and the Wharton Alumni Angel Network (which you do not have to be a Wharton graduate to join). Silvia is also connected with a variety of angel groups, including Hera Fund (which she founded), Golden Seeds, Pasadena Angelsl, and the Los Angeles Venture Association (LAVA).  When you are a member of one angel group, you benefit from many groups, since they share deals with each other. For example, if Kieretsu is funding a company, and there is room in the round for more investors, they may pull in Tech Coast Angels, or Golden Seeds, or any other group they have connections to. Investors want their companies to be able to raise the entire round of funding they need to be successful, so angel groups are motivated to bring in other groups when more funds are needed.

With all of these great benefits, are there any disadvantages to joining angel groups? One consideration is that the groups are not inexpensive – it could cost thousands of dollars per year to join, depending on the group. Amy points out that this expenditure is worthwhile, especially considering how much money angel investors put to work, and the resources groups provide to help their members make better investment decisions.

Do angel groups promote a kind of groupthink, or herd mentality? It’s possible, but it’s also a positive to be in a group of like-minded individuals who are passionate about supporting innovation. You will definitely want to do your own thinking, while also benefitting from the expertise and camaraderie of others.

Some groups have recommended annual investment minimums. However, no group wants to push investors into deals they are not comfortable with.

In closing, Amy encouraged all women who have the necessary capital to explore angel investing. Even if you feel a lack of confidence, at least explore some of the many ways to learn. As angel investors, we all want to keep growing. Some of the ways Amy continually learns more are webinars and educational content from the Angel Capital Association (ACA), joining due diligence calls, and asking specific questions of friends. Amy and Silvia meet regularly for coffee to share ideas and knowledge, and to support each other.

You can watch the full discussion on angel groups with Amy Chang on Hera Labs’ YouTube channel.

If you found this article interesting, you will want to join us at the Hera Venture Summit, for women angels and entrepreneurs, Saturday September 17, at UC San Diego. We will listen to each other, learn from each other, and of course, network.  As Sylvia says, “You never know who you will be sitting next to!”

Some pre-summit events to note are:

• Hera Fast Pitch - Wednesday August 31. The top 3 companies at this event will pitch at the Hera Venture Summit.

• Our next monthly Conversations With Angel Investors, featuring Christine Lim, Wingpact Founding Partner, leading a discussion on Investing in Emerging Economies, Thursday Aug 25, 4pm PST on Google Hangout.

We hope to see you at some of these events – join the conversation to advance the women’s startup ecosystem and connect women angels and women entrepreneurs!

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Also posted on Suzanne Andrews' blog, Bring Your Own Table.

On June 23, 2016, we had the delight of hosting Valentina Vitols for our Hera Fund Wingpact Conversation. Monthly Hera Fund Wingpact Conversations are convened by Silvia Mah, Founder of Hera Fund and Hera Labs, and Suzanne Andrews, Founding Partner of Wingpact.

Valentina Vitols is a Latina angel investor, a Pipeline Angels member, co-founder of the Seattle Women’s Impact Fund, and active in her Seattle innovation ecosystem. She actively seeks out Latina women to bring into her community of angel investors.

Valentina shared with us about two topics that she is passionate about – activating Latina angel investors, and developing deal flow - both areas that rely heavily on relationship-building.

Both Silvia and Valentina are from Venezuela, are angel investors who support women entrepreneurs, and are passionate about finding more Latinas to become part of this movement.

Latina Women Make Great Angel Investors

These observations from Valentina’s and Silvia’s personal experiences as active members of their communities explain this major takeaway from our discussion, that Latina women in general are especially well-suited to be angel investors.

First, Latinas tend to enjoy building relationships, and they are good at it! Networking, meeting new people, and talking with them about their interests comes naturally. Women actively share deals, and the process of making of meaningful connections between entrepreneurs and other investors is very satisfying.

Secondly, Latinas are currently becoming more active and interested in investment decision-making. Latinas tend to make safe, structured investments, and at the same time, they are fearless. With education about the process and the community benefits, many would enjoy the enriching experience of a new kind of investing. 

Latinas are also very generous as shown by their commitment to philanthropy.  Supporting other women is near and dear to their hearts. Angel investing involves a more personal relationship than other kinds of investing. We have the opportunity to develop warm, personal relationships with entrepreneurs and activate our nurturing sides. Valentina finds she is always learning, having fun, and being enriched by the entrepreneurs she meets.

Valentina observes a paradigm shift in how women are investing, in ways that express our values and lifestyle needs. We are supporting companies that are creating new structures that meet the needs of how women need to work. For example, many of our startups provide freelance jobs, which work well for moms juggling multiple responsibilities.

How to get more Latina women involved in angel investing

In general, Latinas are especially relationship-focused so networking and word-of-mouth is a great way to bring women in. Latina communities are scattered – we need to find and educate them about the opportunities and benefits of angel investing. Latina women qualified to be angel investors are out there. A particular group of Latinas ripe for angel investing is women ready to come back to the work force, and looking for meaningful, high-impact work. When women understand the positive social impact of angel investing, they will be interested. Silvia says, “If you are supporting your community with philanthropy already, why not find a Latina entrepreneur to invest in?” Connecting potential Latina investors with Latina entrepreneurs is another way to inspire women to get involved in angel investing.

Reaching out to the media is effective, observed Valentina. There is a lot of information available for women about becoming entrepreneurs but not much for women who might be interested in investing. (Check out Wingpact’s new book, Impact With Wings, which was written to show women readers why angel investing could be empowering and satisfying for them.)

Valentina expressed her dream that there could be a class of new angel investors who are all Latina, like the recent Pipeline Angels cohort in Atlanta that was all African-American.

Deal Flow Comes Naturally to Latinas

Valentina said finding potential companies to invest in is one of her favorite parts of angel investing. She gets to network, talk to a lot of people, see their excitement, and talk with them a lot about what they care about. 

Silvia and Valentina advise entrepreneurs who are looking to become part of investors’ deal flow to take advantage of opportunities to go meet angel investors.  Both Hera Fund and Valentina offer regular open hours for any entrepreneur who wants to come and connect.

Next Steps

Valentina closed our conversation by encouraging women to think about angel investing, no matter what your background is. There is a need for your expertise, and some entrepreneur will definitely benefit from what you bring. Valentina offered to make herself available to any Latina women who would like to connect with her about angel investing.

This was a very rich conversation, with only the briefest highlights reported here.  Watch the full session on YouTube.

Attend the Hera Venture Summit to learn more about angel investing and connect with women angels. There will be a number of Latina women angels attending, many from Tijuana. Sept 17, 8:30am-7pm, at the University of San Diego. Register here.

Come meet the authors at the Impact With Wings San Diego launch.  This historic book is the first for women about angel investing. August 17.

Watch for the Fast Pitch in preparation for the Hera Venture Summit.

Join our next Hera Fund Wingpact Conversation with Amy Chang, The Pros and Cons of Joining Angel Networks, on Thursday July 21, 4-5pm on Google Hangout.

Let’s keep on investing and building bridges!
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Also published on Suzanne Andrews' blog, Bring Your Own Table.