Our primary focus is on products/technology where access to Michigan clients increased probability of success. We welcome requests for early round equity financing from Michigan's Northwestern Upper Peninsula start-up and early stage companies in the following areas:
Aurora Angels Investment Criteria
Cleantech (Materials Recovery and Recycling, Environmental , Energy Efficiency, IT and Enabling Technologies) 
Alternate Energy (wind, solar, biomass, fuel cells, Energy Storage, Energy Infrastructure) Advanced materials (composites, ceramics, nano-technology) 
Automation to support Cleantech (software, hardware, controls) 
Other industry sectors and low tech transactions entertained opportunistically As angel investors, we believe that both ground-breaking ideas and robust execution capabil,ities are needed for the kind of commercial success we seek. We look to the start-up to supply the ideas and at least some of the execution capabilities. We do stand ready to complement the latter with advice, contacts and access to the Michigan Technological University and the Michigan Tech Smart Zone consultants and their network.
The first indication of a start-up company's vision and its execution capability is the business plan, which is the initial document we seek. Besides a succinct description of the concept of the business and its products and services, a business plan should include the following:
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A description and analysis of the markets, customers, and partners, as well as a description of why the customers and partners would purchase the start-up company's goods and/or services;
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An analysis of the potential competitors, their products, their funding and alliances;
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A set of projected pro forma financial statements, built from the bottom up, that includes cash flow analysis, balance sheets and profit and loss statements for a minimum of four years. (Presenting the data by quarter for the first two years and by year for the rest is preferred);
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a) A statement of the amount of investment being requested, b) the pre-money valuation (or a range of values you would consider) that you are putting on your company and c) a statement of the amount of the shares, warrants and options already issued;
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A four year projected departmental head count plan;
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An outline financing plan that discusses a) the timing of future financing events, b) the amounts to be raised each time, c) the respective goals to be achieved prior to a financing event, d) the goals to be reached with the financing achieved, and e) the target pre-money valuations for each such future financing event;
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Sales and marketing plans with the assumptions described, as well as explanations of the expenses and why the predicted results are expected.
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A business development roadmap with milestones, contingencies, and options; and
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A set of detailed resumes, rather than brief biographies, of the principal founders with a description of their capital investment in the start-up company.
Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions regarding our policies and procedures.