NextGen Angels has turned 1, and the under age 40 investors have written checks to eight DC-area companies, averaging $250k. It’s enough deal flow to warrant a full-time managing director: Brett Gibson. The Virginia Beach native and former Army officer recently left LivingSocial, where he was working in business and corporate development, to start managing the 70-member group. It’s adding six new members today, just four shy of its 80-member cap. The goal is to continue finding the top DC-area startups looking for funding in between their seed and series A. The long-term goal is possible city expansion and raising third-party capital to invest alongside NextGen.
Brett says the group gets requests to pitch from 50 to 75 companies a month, but only a handful get to the present to the group. And only 1% actually get a check. Once they present, they hear back within a month if they're getting a check. Brett says the process has to be entrepreneur-friendly, which means moving fast and giving the startups that get funded lots of mentoring. So how does a company get NextGen’s attention? The business should: be going after a big market; have people on the team who have been through a startup before; and be in the type of market where the angels can be helpful with connections.
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