5 p.m. today is the deadline for applying for the first of five 2016 funding cycles from The
(CTAN). The organization is seeking early-stage startups, generally with valuations below $10 million, with a product that’s market ready or almost there.
The nonprofit group’s portfolio made six exits last year, including VMWare’s acquisition of Boxer.
Executive director Claire England joined CTAN around this time last year. She said CTAN’s greatest contribution to Austin’s tech startup ecosystem — other than money — is its members.
“We have an incredibly experienced membership base of current and former entrepreneurs, top corporate business leaders, folks in tech, CPG and health,” said England (pictured right). “Our members also have contacts all over Austin, the state and country for business leads. If you don’t know someone to reach, they’ll know someone who does.”CTAN fundings max out at $2 million, but the group sometimes syndicates fundings with other angel networks across Texas when companies are seeking larger amounts.
Rather than pooling investment capital in a managed fund, CTAN members vote on companies that apply for funding, then invest in them as individual angels. For companies who don’t make the cut, there’s still hope individual members may invest anyway.
“We do not prevent interested members from conducting due diligence and investing outside of the process; in fact, we encourage it,” the group’s website reads. "CTAN’s formal funding cycle. We seek to help as many companies get funded by our member investors as possible.”
The full process and its requirements are documented here.
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