Burlington Free Press

Following is an excerpt from this piece. To read the complete original article, pleae click here: Angel Investors Come to the Rescue

Vermont's landscape of enterepreneurs, startup companies, angel investors and venture capital firms will coalesce at the end of the month for the annual Vermont Investors Forum in Stowe.

Eleven start-up companies and six innovators will have the attention of 75 angel investors who plan to attend the forum, said Ken Merritt, co-chairman of the event and an active "angel investor." An angel investor, he said, is defined as anyone whose net worth is at least $1 million or whose annual income is at least $250,000.

Angel investors fill a crucial stage of funding for blossoming companies that have passed the prototyping stage. The angels come in after the entrepreneur's self-financing efforts, which often includes raiding savings accounts, running up credit card debt and tapping friends and families for investments.

Vermont is an appealing place for angel investors, Merritt said, because the state "attracts creative and enterprising entrepreneurs in a variety of industry sectors."

Once a company has surpassed $1 million in revenue, it is ready for "early stage capital," said Lee Bouyea, managing director of Shelburne-based FreshTracks Capital, Vermont's only venture capital firm. The firm's co-founder and managing director, Cairn Cross, also serves as co-chairman of the Vermont Investors Forum.