“Despite all the doom and gloom in the media, founders continue to raise money and convince VCs to write checks. It’s happening every day, but success requires new strategies and company milestones”, says an article of Fastcompany.com. 

The COVID -19 pandemic was responsible for a rampant introduction of procedures and strategies that accommodate the current constraints and demands. Some estimate that COVID-19 has accelerated tech adoption in 3 to 5 years, pushing economies to focus on products and services that would quickly adapt to the given conditions.

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How did this affect angel investors?

 

Angel investors are well-known for highly considering the people that build the startup over the startup itself. Business ideas can be unforgiving through the course of setting them up and resiliency, challenge management, flexibility and problem-solving are skills that are highly valued when considering an investment. 

Today more than ever investors are looking for the reasons why startups will thrive within their industry and how likely they are to survive and have an impact given the circumstances. The relevant experiences of the founders driving these business ideas must be complementary and key additions to the growth strategy. 

With remote contact, non-verbal communication has been reduced to the bare minimum, and investors are forced to be more precise and explicit with the skills they are looking for within a business investing opportunity. 

Moreover, remote communication has also empowered other channels to build relationships and enlarge networks useful to find funding companions, consulting, and guidance in the investments.

“Balaji S. Srinivasan, angel investor, former CTO of Coinbase, and former GP at Andreessen Horowitz, echoed Calacanis, saying in a tweet that investors are more accessible online. Srinivasan touted social media, and even gaming, as key ways to get VCs’ attention.” said an article in The Business of Business.

But beyond these means, the most successful platforms have been those where we can resemble the closest to physical interaction: video calls. These have sustained the possibility to still connect with new acquaintances in the most social and human-like way possible. 


Overall remote communication has affected our lives in ways in which we have had to quickly adapt to the circumstances and has open opportunities for businesses to flourish in some sectors. Remote working was introduced to our lives to stay, and angel investors are embracing the new opportunities that this path has opened. 


For more information about the impact of remote communication in startup investing, here are some interesting sources:

"The Remote-Work Revolution Is the Best Thing to Happen to Angel Investing in Decades" - Angels + entrepreneurs network

"VCs are embracing remote investing amid Silicon Valley exodus" - Business of business‍

"Getting Angel Investors Onboard with Remote Setups" - Skuad

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"Data show how some startup founders are still raising capital during the COVID-19 crisis" - FastCompany
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Other interesting resources:
‍"European Startups Got A Bigger Share Of Record Global VC Invested In H1 2021" - crunchbasenews
"EIF Venture Capital, Private Equity Mid-Market & Business Angels Surveys 2020: Market sentiment, COVID-19 impact, Policy measures" - EBAN
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