Use this year’s angel investor rankings to place your startup

CTAN named #1 angel network two years in a row

Look out Silicon Valley, there’s a new innovation hotbed in town.

For the second year in a row, Central Texas Angel Network (CTAN) has won the coveted #1 ranking at the Angel Capital Association’s annual ACA Summit in San Francisco.

The report

At this summit, the Angel Resource Institute (ARI) released its HALO Report, comprised of national data and rankings of angel investor groups. The HALO Report awards the most active groups in each region and ranks each nationally — CTAN has been recognized as the most active angel group nationwide once again.

CTAN wins at winning

With more than 160 investors from a wide range of backgrounds, CTAN has invested more than $82 million in over 140 companies since 2006. The organization doesn’t just invest in startups — they also mentor and support entrepreneurs every step of the way by connecting them to critical business resources that accelerate their growth.

This is the first time in CTAN history to win first place two years in a row (2015 and 2016).

That’s not all Texas has to brag about: CTAN was tied for #1 by none other than Houston Angel Network (HAN). The two organizations work together often as sister angel groups to share resources and collaborate on deals. Both CTAN and HAN are working to turn Austin, Houston, and Texas as a whole into a hub of innovation for early-stage businesses, and are clearly pulling it off.

The HALO Report is full of interesting data points, many of which bode well for both entrepreneurs and investors at early seed-stages.

For example, the report revealed that after reaching a high of $4.6M in 2015, pre-money valuations plummeted by 22% nationwide in 2016, down to $3.6M. The average pre-money valuation in Texas remained $3.8M in 2016.

Also, for the first time in history for angel groups nationwide, there were more follow-on rounds than new rounds.This shows that more angel investors have been acknowledging the importance of setting aside funds to support their portfolio companies with follow-on rounds.

[clickToTweet tweet=”@CTANangels second win in a row, plus HAN’s #1 rank, is proof that seed-stage funding thriving in TX.” quote=”CTAN’s second win in a row, along with HAN’s #1 ranking, are proof that seed-stage funding thriving in Texas.”]These big wins also prov that Texas’ economy as a whole is in great shape now and likely for years to come.

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