On Thursday 6th October, 42 Ventures (the investment arm of the Gold Coast Innovation Hub) in collaboration with Gold Coast Angels hosted an investment lunch at Edgewater Dining.
The event provided an opportunity for new Gold Coast Angels members to connect with local investment groups and family offices that work with 42 Ventures to discuss current opportunities, the current state of the market and thoughts on how to better support the early stage investment sector in the region.
Guests were intrigued to find that in place of the food menu each place setting had an investment menu of 42 Ventures deal tasters that served as excellent discussion starters.
As the room sat down to dine, each attendee was invited to share their stories as entrepreneurs and as investors. None mentioned dollar figures. All spoke of past struggles and exits (good & bad) then current passions and pursuits. All made reference to how they want to make a difference through their investment of capital, skills and networks.
Several of the founding members of Gold Coast Angels were in the room and were able to recount their adventures in helping startups, from early efforts of organising angel investment meetings on the Gold Coast in the late 90s, through to now.
42 Ventures Chris Booth recounted some early engagements with the Gold Coast Angels, how the space in Australia has come along in the last 20-odd years and the part 42 Ventures is playing in taking post-angel startups to scale, as part of the ecosystem.
As others also recounted their own lived experiences with supporting startups, one important thing came through: many had made one-to-one startup investments alone, “in the wild” and regretted it.
All seemed to be in agreement: supporting early-stage businesses is better as a team, whether hands-on at angel level with an angel group or innovation hub, or at arms-length at scaleup behind a cornerstone (where 42 Ventures comes in).
The investor lunches will be scheduled on a quarterly basis in 2023 as 42 Ventures, Gold Coast Angels and Angel Loop continue to collaborate to build support systems for early stage investors on the Gold Coast.
If you are currently investing alone and would like to be part of a wider investment syndicate you can reach out to 42 Ventures and Gold Coast Angels via their websites, or contact us at the Gold Coast Innovation Hub for an introduction.
