Welcome

Welcome to the new Georgian Angel Network (GAN) website, a place where we can continue to share information and connect with others in the angel investing community in Barrie, Simcoe County, South Georgian Bay, Collingwood, and Muskoka.

Our members often say that they like being a part of GAN because the investment opportunities presented are uniquely interesting and the discussions are fascinating. As the new “kid” at the table, I have enjoyed meeting all the members and our sponsors and supporters.

At GAN, we like to “punch above our weight” and have made a difference in our community by investing over $12 million in 35 different companies. We are a strong organization, with a great culture of inquiry and a passion for angel investing.

GAN’s strategy focuses on three areas:

  • Deal curation – to ensure great opportunities are presented.
  • Networking- to increase our membership and support our investments.
  • Operational efficiency – to build sustainability.

As I review the investments to-date, I have been inspired by the research of Charles Plant of U of T to look at continuing to support our investments with additional growth capital. If we expect our investments to scale up quickly, we must support them with capital and connections. We have been adding existing companies to the pipeline of possible presenters at our monthly meetings.

GAN investors have benefited from the financial rewards from the first exit. GAN members who invested in SurfEasy in October 2013, sold their investment in February 2015, in a transaction that was paid out in milestone-based payments by June 2017. At the end of all payments, investors received a total payout of 3 times the original investment, creating a modest gain of 2.16 times original investment.

We have many other good investments currently scaling up and over the next few years we look forward to rewarding exits and the reinvestment in new opportunities.

Cheers,

– Michael Badham, Managing Director, GAN.