Angel investors were busy, but a bit more cautious in 2007, according to the latest study from the Center for Venture Research of the University of New Hampshire. There was little growth over the previous year in their investment activity.
They stuck to familiar ground in terms of industry sectors that they favored.
- Software 27% of total angel investments
- - Healthcare Services/Medical Devices and Equipment 19%
- Biotech 12%.
- Industrial/Energy 8% (green technologies moved this up a bit)
- Retail 6%
- Media 5%
Their conservative stance also showed up on the stage of deals that they favored. While seed and start-up capital, long the domain of angels, was 39% of angel deals, they showed more interest in later stage deals with more proven track records. The survey found that 35% went to post start-up ventures and 21% was directed toward even later stage expansion investments.
Exit activity showed that in the post Sarbanes-Oxley world mergers and acquisitions still dominate exit events -- 65%. IPOs were an anemic 4% of exits. Bankruptcies accounted for 27% of the exits.
Rates of return continue to hover in the 20-40% range.
