Sam Fratoni, a former Idexx executive, is the new chair of the Maine Angels
The Maine Angels is one of the most active angel investment groups in the country, according to a recent national report on angel investment activity.
The group, a collection of affluent individuals who pool their resources to invest in and mentor early-stage companies, was the third most active angel investment group in New England, ranked by cumulative deals closed between 2010 and the second quarter of 2015, according to the Halo Report. Only LaunchPad Venture Group in Boston and the Cherrystone Angel Group in Rhode Island were more active in the region. The Halo Report is prepared annually by the Angel Resource Institute and PitchBook, a venture capital research firm.
Catherine York, who runs her own private equity firm in Portland, is the Maine Angels’ new vice chair
During that five-and-a-half year period, Maine Angels invested a total of $9.9 million in 47 companies, nearly half of which are in Maine, through the closure of 89 deals, according to the group’s data.
In the first two quarters of 2015, members of Maine Angels have invested nearly $1.3 million in 14 deals, including four deals involving investments in new portfolio companies and 10 “follow-on” deals representing additional investments in existing portfolio companies.
As a region, angel investment groups in New England closed 12.7 percent of the deals between 2010 and the second quarter of 2015, ranking it second (out of 10 regions) only to California, which had 19.6 percent of all deals. However, when based on actual investment during that period, New England companies received only 10 percent of the total dollars invested, placing it behind the Southeast (13.5 percent), the Great Lakes region (15.9 percent) and California (18.2 percent).
The Halo Report’s findings arrived as the Maine Angels elected new officers to lead the group.
Sam Fratoni was elected chair, replacing Sandra Stone. Fratoni is a former Idexx executive who now serves on the boards of the Maine Center for Entrepreneurial Development and Envision Maine.
“Maine is a great place to start a business, and we are continuing to grow our membership to help develop and invest in more local entrepreneurs,” Fratoni said.
Catherine York is the Maine Angel’s new vice chair, replacing Don Gooding, executive director of the Maine Center for Entrepreneurial Development. York is an energy industry executive who now runs her own Portland-based private equity firm, Constant Energy Capital, which invests in clean energy companies.
“Maine Angels is focused on connecting young, scalable companies with early-stage capital,” York said. “Entrepreneurs want and need to work on their businesses, not to constantly fundraise. As such, Maine Angels is focused on improving and expediting its review and funding process and growing its networks to expand access to capital.”
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