By Frank Szivos, Angel Investor News Editor

Who: Barry Moltz, co-founder of the Prairie Angels Group

Where: Chicago, Ill.  

Experience: In an unstable economic climate, Moltz, a long-time entrepreneur, saw the need for a stand alone group of serious angel investors to deals in the Chicago area. As an angel investor, he co-founded, Prairie Angels two years ago. This group of private investors is committed to investing in and mentoring early stage companies and their entrepreneurs. He serves on its screening committee and reviews for this organization over 500 business plans a year. The Prairie Angels now stands at 60 members who must a $500 membership fee. Moltz spends a lot of time meeting and counseling entrepreneurs on how to start, fund and turn around their businesses. He maintains his  “hacker” web site, www.barrymoltz.com to give entrepreneurs advice on frequently asked questions.

Most recently, he co-founded with other angels and members of the venture community, Prairie Angel Capital Fund (www.pafund.com) a committed capital fund that will lead due diligence on local seed stage companies and then lead investments rounds.

Moltz started his career at IBM. After winning several awards, he left to become a director of sales for Whittman-Hart where he co-founded three startup companies. The last company he founded was SciTech where he served as the CEO of this direct mail catalog and e-commerce reseller of scientific engineering and technical software. He sold the company in 1999.

Moltz is also working on a book entitled “Small Business: Where Personal and Professional Lives Meet”. He is also regularly featured as the Entrepreneur’s Angel on www.tannedfeet.com, the Entrepreneur’s Help Page. Barry is also the subject of a chapter in the book, Attracting Capital From Angels by Dee Power and Brian Hill. (John Wiley and Sons) www.attractingcapitalfromangels.com

How: Interested entrepreneurs should visit Prairie Angels Website (www.pafund.com) to fill out an application. A screening committee of 12 members meets to select three companies to present to the Prairie Angels group, which plans to review about 18 business plans per year. After the presentation, the group will question screened entrepreneurs extensively about proposed business plans. Angels are free to make arrangements for further interviews. Entrepreneurs should consider several forms of funding, such as family, friends, banks and community and state organizations

How Many Deals: The Prairie Angels plans to fund four to six deals. It has already announced that it’s investing in four. The Prairie Angels look to invest approximately $350,000 - $700,000. The Prairie Angel philosophy is not only to provide necessary capital but to also offer participants with an opportunity to work with those companies the fund chooses to invest in. We believe that there are many angel investors who possess skills and have resources far greater than capital alone. The fund's investment approach is to match these resources with qualified companies who seek capital along with expertise and or contacts. Prairie Angels Capital Partners is quite simply a facilitator with an experienced team of private equity investors.

Prairie Angels believe that the facilitation of angel investments in a structured format will give small to medium sized businesses the opportunity to grow into long-term industry leaders. They believe that angel investment is about building leading businesses for the long-term, one step at a time. Prairie Angels has invested in a diverse group of startups. They have an inclination to invest in technology companies, however, the group has done a deal with a metal forming controls company.

Tips for Entrepreneurs: Prairie Angels invests in people as much as good business ideas. As a result, startups need a track record – a customer base and an experienced management team. Entrepreneurs face the chick-and-egg syndrome of trying to build a customer base, but need more funding to grow their companies. Private investors tend to be more wary and have less money to invest. They are looking for startups, which are further along in their development and looking for a less money. More government programs are offering tax incentives to private investors to fill the large investment chasm that should encourage more angels to look for deals.