About Traverse

Business start-up and expansion is one of the primary keys to economic development and growth at the local level and for the whole US economy.  Early stage companies are the key determinant of new job creation, economic health and long-term growth. The greater Traverse City is unique, in that, due to the inherent level of affluence, among its population base, a sub-set of residents, of Traverse City, have the financial capacity to invest in early stage companies.  Traditionally, these same high net worth investors have invested, in early stage companies, as individuals, and due to their remote geographic location, have had limited access to deal flow, early stage entrepreneurs and their companies and the venture capital community.   At the same time the traditional role of a managed Angel Network, among these same disparate Angel Investors has not existed, in the greater Traverse City region, which would have provided consistent “quality” deal flow and expertise. The goal of Traverse Angels is to take the traditional role of an early-stage, managed Angel fund, targeting a balanced portfolio of investments over a five to seven year time frame.  By providing access to the unique local geographic region and the potential to expand beyond to other targeted geographic regions,  the active Mangers of Traverse Angels will provide unprecedented access to “quality” deal flow, across a number of technology and non-technology related industry segments.  In addition, Traverse Angels will fill the gap between “friends and family” and/or traditional individual Angels and traditional Venture Capital financing for early stage companies, which will allow these same start-up companies to accomplish critical milestones, making them attractive to large follow-on venture capital financing.