In order to receive consideration for presentation at an Allied Angels meeting, your company must first e-mail a non-confidential Executive Summary of your business plan to cvmott@bluetreecapital.com. We will not sign a non-disclosure form when we initially look at your opportunity. If your company meets the group’s preview criteria, you will be asked to complete an application form. In rare cases, we may have a single member investor sign a non-disclosure agreement late in the due diligence process.

After applications are reviewed, we may contact you to request more information or to schedule a screening interview. This process may take two to three months. A limited number of companies are selected to present. Please keep in mind that each individual investor in Allied Angels makes his/her own decision to invest. It is therefore strongly recommended that you view this as one possible avenue for investment and continue to pursue all other avenues until your financing goals are met. Thank you for considering the BlueTree Allied Angels.   

ENTREPRENEUR BENEFITS

Large Capital Source - The Allied Angels is a group of investors who possess financial means and investment/business experience. Each member brings the ability and willingness to invest in promising private companies while understanding the inherent risk. By bringing these top regional investors together, entrepreneurs are able to save time by presenting to one group to raise capital rather than attempting to locate and present to individual angel investors.

Broad Pool of Knowledge & Contacts - Each member of the Allied Angels has extensive investment and/or operational business experience. This experience spans a number of industries. Entrepreneurs looking to gain access to key decision-makers and suppliers, customers, or partners are able to tap the knowledge and contacts of all members. This resource helps entrepreneurs accelerate the growth of their companies.

Efficient Process - The Allied Angels leverages a proven efficient process for entrepreneurs to raise capital from a large and diverse group of investors. The process begins by submitting a business summary via cvmott@bluetreecapital.com. Applicants will usually be contacted within 3 weeks. If your plan meets Allied Angels’ preliminary investment criteria, you will be asked to provide more details. Upon review of this information, you may then be invited to present at a screening meeting with a small group of members from the Allied Angels. At this meeting, entrepreneurs present their business plan and the screening committee selects entrepreneurs for presentation at the regular monthly meeting of Allied Angels.

Efficient Structure - A long list of busy individual investors often does not permit swift action at critical moments such as closing a venture capital round or responding to an acquisition offer. The BlueTree Capital Group, the managing company for Allied Angels, facilitates receiving an entire group’s investment round from a single source in the form of a special-purpose LLC entity - where members invest in the LLC and the LLC invests in the company. For an entrepreneur, this structure for working with angel investors maximizes the benefits (able to tap the knowledge and contacts of a large group of experienced investors) and minimizes the hassles (provides a single point of contact for interacting with a large group of busy investors). 

Capital Connections - BlueTree Capital Group is constantly expanding its network of investors, investor institutions, and corporate enterprises. By co-investing with regional, early-stage venture capital funds and other angel groups, BlueTree Capital Group helps entrepreneurs raise sufficient capital to demonstrate proof-of-concept. As the entrepreneurial venture achieves its milestones, BlueTree Capital Group may be a source for introductions to later-stage venture capital funds, corporate investors, and strategic partners to raise the next round of capital or attract an acquisition offer.

TARGET INVESTMENTS

Characteristics of companies that are attractive to Allied Angels:

• Company headquarters in Western PA, Eastern Ohio, or Northern WV
• Experienced and talented management team
• Beta product
• Business proof-of-concept via customer sales commitments
• Visibility to cash flow breakeven
• Clear exit strategy
• A minimum of +10 times return expected within 3-5 years
• Primary operations in targeted industries aligned with the Allied Angels’ membership interest
• Investment requirements between $200,000 and $1,500,000
• A pre-money valuation of less than $5,000,000

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How do I apply to make my presentation to the BlueTree Allied Angels?

The first step is to send a non-confidential Executive Summary of your business plan via e-mail to cvmott@bluetreecapital.com. If a positive response from BlueTree Capital Group is received, then you will be asked to complete a full application. There is no fee to apply. Your application will then be reviewed (generally within 21 days) to determine if it meets the investment criteria of the Allied Angels. 

What happens if the application is rejected?

We will do our best to provide feedback regarding the reasons for rejection. If you can remedy the objection, we encourage you to reapply at a future date.

What happens if the application is accepted?

The process continues through the following steps: (1) Your application and executive summary will be given to a committee who performs the preliminary screening. They will contact you for more information. (2) If your application continues, you will be asked to present at our monthly screening meeting. At this meeting, a screening committee will review your business opportunity with you to determine if you meet the criteria to present at a regularly scheduled Allied Angels meeting. You will be notified within 7 days after the screening meeting of the outcome. (3) If selected to present, you will be notified as to the next steps. If your plan is rejected at this screening meeting, feedback will be provided regarding the issues. If changes make sense, you may resubmit your application for future meetings.

How much time is allocated for the presentations?

Presentations at both the screening meetings and the member meetings are limited to 35 minutes, using no more than 20 slides. We allocate the first 20 minutes for your core presentation and 15 minutes for a question and answer session.

What happens after presenting to the BlueTree Allied Angels?

Prior to the meeting, members will have received an executive summary and other supporting materials via e-mail. After hearing the entrepreneur’s presentation, there will be time for questions and answers. Members then discuss the entrepreneur’s presentation, express a non-binding interest, and volunteer for the due diligence process lead by BlueTree Capital Group. An initial investor meeting is held at the companies office to have a general Q&A session and demo of the product. Additional due diligence is performed and a due diligence report is then created and emailed to members or is presented at a subsequent meeting. At this point each member can opt to invest. Activities during this time often take the form of the following:

• Information Gathering - After reviewing the company's application, the due diligence committee will likely request additional information before their first meeting, including a detailed executive summary, full business plan, an investor presentation, management references, detailed proforma financial statements, etc.
• Meetings - The due diligence committee will request a series of meetings to get to know the management team. Companies should prepare presentations that provide different levels of detail, including a product demo and a facilities tour with plenty of time for Q&A. Often other investors experienced in the company's industry will attend subsequent meetings to assist in the review process and possibly co-invest in the company.
• Term Sheet - Either the due diligence committee or another interested investment group outside of Allied Angels will present a term sheet and use it as the basis to negotiate the basic valuation and terms of the investment. Entrepreneurs may also present a term sheet to begin initial term sheet discussions.
• Due Diligence - Companies should prepare a standard package of financial and legal documents for all investors’ confidential review. Members will likely request a technical product review, an analysis of competitors and market dynamics, detailed management and customer reference checks, etc.

What types of companies does Allied Angels invest in?

The Allied Angels’ portfolio will reflect the diversity of its membership. Members will invest in companies in a variety of industries and stages of growth. We focus on early stage companies with potential for significant equity appreciation in a reasonable timeframe. However, members generally prefer to avoid product or technology risk (i.e., will the product work when it is built, is the technology scalable, etc.). The group generally does not invest in research and development. Most members are more comfortable with business risk (i.e., how do you attract and retain customers; do you sell the product direct or through distributors / resellers / reps; how much will it cost to sell, install and support a customer; etc.). Thus, companies that have completed initial product development and are executing a plan to address the business risks are more likely to receive investment from the Allied Angels. Exceptions are sometimes made for strong management teams with prior start-up experience.

Do you invest in companies outside the tri-state (PA, OH, WV) area?

Only if we syndicate with another local organization similar to ours or if the company is willing to relocate to the tri-state region of PA, OH, or WV. Successful angel investments often require significant hands-on effort, so we view these investments requiring some level of local support by the investment groups involved.

How long does the process take?

Unfortunately there is no standard time table for the entire investment process. Areas that tend to take the most time are screening and due diligence. Once a group of investors are ready to invest, a company well organized for investor due diligence can go through the process of meetings, documentation, and closing in about two months.