The Hub Angels Group began meeting in March 2000 with the notion of matching active, early stage investors with technology-driven, start-up companies. With a focus on the greater Boston area known as the "Hub" by Boston locals the Hub Angel Investment Group developed its present methodology and structure of investing which includes a venture fund with co-investment rights for the individual Members of the Fund. Currently there are nearly 200 Members in Hub Funds I, II, III, IV, V, and VI.

Background: The Hub Angels began meeting in March 2000 with the notion of matching active, early stage investors with technology-driven, start-up companies. With a focus on the greater Boston area known as the "Hub" by Boston locals the Hub Angel Investment Group developed its present methodology and structure of investing which includes a venture fund with co-investment rights for the individual Members of the Fund. Currently there are nearly 200 Members in Hub Funds I, II, III, IV, V, and VI.

The Hub Funds invest across industry sectors as part of a diversification strategy, but with a focus on health care/life sciences, IT/Internet/communications, and technology domains. Hub has invested in more than 40 companies, with the Hub Group and its members investing more than $40 million. Venture firms that have participated in financing Hub’s portfolio of companies include: DFJ Gotham, Greenhill, Javelin, First Round, Norwich, Rock Maple, Brook, Thomas Weisel, Fidelity, BCVP, Bessemer, Blue Chip, VCFNE, Seed, Origin, Intel, TL, Singapore EDB, Venrock, Commonwealth, Stage 1, Long River, Anchor Capital, Project11, Supply Chain Ventures, River Hollow Partners, Polaris, Foundation Capital, SAPPHIRE, Atlas, Raine Capital, GGV, InterWest, Nauta Capital, Laconia, 645 Ventures, Pallasite, and FlagShip. Collectively this constitutes nearly $1 billion of invested capital.

Sector: Healthcare/life sciences, IT/Internet/communications and technology

Stage: 12+ month-old companies with core management team, significant addressable market, defensible technology, beta sites or market validated product/service, and capital efficient business model (< $10 million to reach exit)

Location: Preference for Massachusetts, but also the Northeastern states and Eastern Canada

Investment: $250K - $750K purchase of preferred equity, (far) less than $10 million pre-money valuation, board representation, active investors

Process Companies fitting the profile noted above are invited to submit an executive summary using the Hub "template" a 3-page summary of the important features of the company. During screening sessions, the Management Group and its Advisors use these summaries to determine the companies that best match the group’s investment interests. Hub Members meet six times a year to hear 15-minute presentations by 3-5 companies, followed by Q&A, and a voting process to determine if the group will enter formal due diligence on any of the companies presented. The due diligence process is focused on 30 days to get to a commitment to invest, and whatever additional time is necessary to bring a syndicate together and close the round. Each year, Hub screens on the order of 350 companies, presents about 25, enters due diligence on 15, and invests in 3 or 4. On average, Hub invests three times in each portfolio company. Having a Fund facilitates our holding back dry powder to participate in future rounds. This strategy gives confidence to our portfolio companies that we will be there when they raise capital, protects Hubs pro-rata interests and can shorten the time companies need to close rounds. Regardless of whether or not Hub makes an investment in a company, the Hub Angels endeavor to help start-up companies with feedback, advice and contacts.

Goal: Our goal is to utilize a proven structure and disciplined process, driven by strong management and the expertise of our Hub Members, to help early stage companies develop, grow and exit. Our Members expect an appropriate return on their capital, and are willing to actively participate in supporting the needs of the Hub portfolio companies to ensure success. The investment horizon for any one portfolio company is 4 to 9 years. However, there are many factors that affect the exit conditions and timing for each portfolio company.

Management: The Management Group assumes the organizational and administrative responsibility for the Funds, including deal flow, due diligence, negotiation, and closing investments. There are two members of the Hub Management Group, Charles Cameron (UMass, MIT, Harvard) and David Verrill (Bowdoin, MIT). Although we have no formal ties, we do have a high affinity to MIT and the other leading local schools, as many of us are alumni. These schools provide innovative technologies and critical human resources. We also leverage local academic and scientific expertise to assess new technologies and determine their likelihood of success. The governance of Hub includes three committees Membership, Investment and Advisory.

Structure: The Hub Angel Investment Group LLC is a hybrid Angel and Venture Capital business model structured to allow Members to participate in the process, and with the transparency not available through a venture capital fund. In addition, having a Fund allows us to reserve capital for future rounds – to protect and enhance our collective ownership in each portfolio company. If a Member finds any of our investments particularly attractive, he or she has the option to make an additional side-by-side investment under the same terms of the Fund. This works well for our Members as there is no carried interest on the side-by-side investments.

For Entrepreneurs: Hub Angels seeks to work with and support innovative entrepreneurs and to play an active role in helping them to build successful enterprises. In order to be most efficient and respectful of entrepreneurs' and our Members' time, we only accept companies that are referred to us through our extensive network. It is our experience that we are much more likely to find and work with companies sourced through our trusted network than with companies that come across the transom. Companies that are active in the many entrepreneurial networks in the region will find ways to get a referral to Hub. While only about 1% of companies we see receive funding from Hub, we try to add value for all companies that approach us. Frequently, this involves providing feedback on their offering, making referrals to other sources of capital and making connections across our networks.

For Investors: All members are accredited investors, as defined by the SEC. We are a members-only fund and accept new members when we open a new fund. In order to respect the privacy requested by our Members, we do not publicly post lists of those participating in Hub Angels. Those interested in getting information about joining Hub should contact the managing partners, David Verrill and/or Charlie Cameron.

Team: Hub was founded by Charles Cameron and David Verrill:

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