NEW ORLEANS – The NO/LA Angel Network has announced that its members’ early-stage capital investments have exceeded $10 million.
“This is a great milestone for NO/LAAN and for the southeast Louisiana startup ecosystem,” said Mike Eckert, who co-founded the group with Jack Carrere in 2014.
The investing group has grown to more than 120 members and participated in 60 investing rounds in 26 companies. $8 million has gone to Louisiana companies. NO/LAAN also launched The Pelican Angel Fund in 2020 to provide diversification opportunities to early-stage investors.
“While the $10M invested by NO/LAAN is an impressive milestone, it does not fully capture the value of NO/LA Angel Network,” said Michael Hecht, president and CEO of regional economic development group GNO Inc. “NO/LAAN has been catalytic to the entrepreneurial ecosystem of greater New Orleans by introducing scores to angel investing, helping local startups improve their business models, and providing critical validation that southeast Louisiana is a generator of investable companies.”
NO/LA Angel Network members invest in early-stage entrepreneur driven companies and the network said it seeks to accomplish four major objectives: provide a reasonable return on investment for members, create an opportunity for investors to diversify their portfolios in the asset class, help stimulate the local economy and job growth by helping early-stage businesses get access to needed capita, and empower entrepreneurs to scale their businesses to the next levels through mentoring and networking.
