- March 28, 2023
- Posted by: EBAN Team
- Category: News, Uncategorized
EBAN:
Thank you so much for being here, Marcia, and thank you for agreeing to do this interview! Our first question for you is why you got involved in angel investing.
Marcia:
I was invited to a meeting ten years ago or a little longer, and I didn’t know what angel investing was, and I didn’t know what kind of impact it had or anything about it. So I went to the meeting and was fascinated by the types of innovation and different companies I saw. After this, I got more involved, and then I quickly discovered how little funding goes to women and people of colour. And then I just kept getting more involved as time passed.
EBAN:
We know you came from a sales, marketing and operation career and then moved to entrepreneurship. Which learnings from the past did you apply in the angel investment process?
Marcia:
Any skill you have from previous work will help you in angel investing. Some people think that just because they don’t know a lot about angel investing, they can not contribute to it, and that’s not true. All those past experiences with operations and sales help me nowadays.
EBAN:
How are you seeing angel investing in the US right now, and what would be your strategies for 2023?
Marcia:
Right now, it’s very tough. 2021 was an excellent year for founders to get funding because there was a lot of money flowing around, people were willing to invest, and the US stock market was doing very well. And then, in 2022, the US stock market started to do much worse, and angels pulled back quite a bit from what they were usually doing just because they got nervous. In the past months, at least eight or ten companies I’ve seen raising money are doing this on the same terms they raised in their last round, even if they hit milestones to increase their valuation. So it is tough right now to raise money. People are going out, they need money, and the good companies realise that they need the money pretty fast, so to incentivise the investors to continue to support them or to get new investors, they’re going out and making their terms equal to what they were before instead of raising their valuation.
EBAN:
Are there any specific trends emerging among both entrepreneurs to be able to find investments, such as co-investment from other countries or any trends amongst angels to be able to keep investing despite the atmosphere?
Marcia:
I’ve seen more angel groups putting funds together within their group. It’s unlike a traditional venture capital fund with one fund manager, and then together, they decide what they invest in. That’s becoming popular because you can diversify your portfolio and lessen your risk.
EBAN:
Which sectors should investors watch out for in 2023?
Marcia:
Well, so much is happening right now in AI and machine learning. We’ve seen a lot of that lately. A lot has happened, but it’s still very early to say precisely. Furthermore, I’ve seen more innovation than ever in health care. Right now, especially, Women’s Health is getting a lot more attention. That’s exciting! We’ll always see technology evolve faster and faster, and it will be interesting to see where things are a year from now.
EBAN:
Since it is women’s day on the day of our interview, let’s ask a tricky question: Less than 2% of venture funding goes to women-led businesses, and more than half of female founders experience gender bias in the fundraising process. Furthermore, women only comprise 14% of the angel community. What is your take on increasing women’s participation in angel investing and entrepreneurship?
Marcia:
Well, that’s my passion: to help educate women to feel more comfortable in this asset class. As women, we try to know all the information and gather as much information as possible before making a final decision, which is excellent. Still, we need to ensure that we also utilise the other people’s expertise in the room. For example, I’m not a scientist, so I won’t be able to evaluate a science company, a medical device company, or something like that the same way as somebody with that level of expertise.
So, we must keep educating and giving women opportunities to participate and ramp up. Nowadays, there are so many things you can do with just a little bit of money, and you can kind of ease your way into it so that you learn, and you feel like the amount of risk that you’re taking is kind of matching the amount of knowledge that you’re learning as you’re going. That’s super important to help everyone, not just women but everyone who feels more comfortable participating at all levels. And if we do that, we will help more people who want to participate in the asset class. So it won’t just be one group of people that is getting support. Everybody is getting support because everybody feels more comfortable participating in the asset class.
EBAN:
Which way would you say is the best to help women participate more? Some female angels say women angels should only invest in women founders. Last year in Athens, we talked about allowing women to invest very small or rather small amounts at first, and as they get used to it, they can invest more and more. Where do you stand on all of them?
Marcia:
Well, all those things can be excellent and helpful. Diversity within the team is essential. Women need to get equal time and an equal playing field. I don’t want to swing to the one side where we’re excluding people, so we need to make it so that there’s more inclusivity at all levels. And as I said, that means diversity of the different types of people, their backgrounds, where they went to school, where they grew up, and the kinds of expertise they have. All of those pieces of diversity are helpful for a company to grow and succeed.
EBAN:
You keep mentioning diversity and mentioned it when you said that depending on the ethnicity, the person could receive a tiny part of funding. So are there similar initiatives in the US to get more diverse people as founders and investors?
Marcia:
Yes! There are several. And just like with women, we have to make it so that there’s enough education and that people understand a lot about the asset class so that they know what they want to invest in, what they care to invest in, and what is a good investment.
That’s always hard to tell unless you have a crystal ball. But just giving people as much information as possible and many different options. I’m a massive fan of funds, especially angel group funds, where groups come together because you get all the good things to happen. Then you know you’re pooling your money and getting a diversified portfolio. So maybe you invest your money with other people, and everybody puts in $25,000, but then perhaps you get exposure to 10 different companies with that. So, in that case, you can get a lot of other companies you have exposure to, but you also have this network of people in the boat helping those ten companies. And you know you may have a skill set that one of them needs, and I might have a skilled background another one needs. Then, overall, that’s how people learn, and that’s how people get more comfortable with it, and then that’s how it grows for everyone.
EBAN:
We have one closing question, which is very general, so you can take it as you want. What are your hopes for angel investing in the US and Europe for the future?
Marcia:
I want more people to feel comfortable getting involved. If we could increase the tiniest per cent to have more people participating, we would see massive amounts of change in our healthcare system and technology in getting capital into the hands of underrepresented founders so they can also do good in the world!
If we increase a little bit more of participating people, it will make a huge difference.
EBAN:
So more angels?
Marcia:
Yes, more angels.
EBAN:
Thank you so much for doing this interview with us, and we look forward to seeing you at the EBAN Annual Congress this spring in Greece
To read the part II of the interview, click here! And to get more insights from Marcia and other amazing speakers (https://ebancongress.com/speakers-2023/), join us this May for the largest and most recognised angel investing event in Europe: #EBANCongress – get your ticket while early bird prices are still on:https://ebancongress.com/tickets/