The keynote speaker was Jason Perry, GOED's Executive Director. Among other things, Jason talked about how Utah's current administration has given more Utah companies access growth capital by creating a $100M "fund of funds" that will "invest in venture capital and private equity funds that commit to establishing a working relationship with the Utah Fund of Funds, Utah's start-up and business community and commit to making investments in qualifying companies."
I applaud Jason and Governor Huntsman for the amazing work that they have done to stimulate Utah's economy. We're in better shape now than we have been in for a long time. Huntsman is an amazing man and the best leader this state has had for years..
However, I wish he and GOED would do more to encourage angel investing -- a form of seed capital that creates far more jobs and far more companies than venture capital ever has.
A couple of compelling stats:
- It is estimated that 90% of all outside equity capital in seed/startup stage companies is sourced from angels.
- Nationwide, angels invested in approximately 49,500 start-ups, compared to 3,008 by VCs in 2005.
Am I right?
