Catalyst Angel Program participant Kim Frazier was recently interviewed by Nicholas Slappey, program coordinator at TechTown Detroit. Kim shared her investing journey to and the importance of angel investing.
Tell me a bit about yourself and your investing journey.
I am the executive director of Entrepreneur Center Angels in Dayton, Ohio. I started working with the Entrepreneur Center in 2016 and within the first few years, I was the director of growth initiatives. We were trying to build infrastructure to help our entrepreneurs on the small business lifestyle entrepreneur side and our tech-based entrepreneurs. We started with four chapters in Indiana and one chapter in Dayton. Around 2017 or 2018 we began our first chapter in Dayton with about 12 trailblazer investors, and we were meeting every other month to see the vision tech angels’ pitches. I asked those 12 investors if they would be interested in looking at our local companies to fund people looking for investment and they agreed!
In 2022, I raised a revenue-based investment fund called the Rotunda Fund, which is for any entrepreneur that already has sales. It works more like a loan investment; entrepreneurs take the loan and pay it back as a percentage of their monthly revenue. We started building out even more with those investors and our original chapter investors. We have grown from those original 12 in 2018 to over 40 investors.
How did you hear about the Catalyst Angel Program?
I learned about the Catalyst Angel Program through the Angel Capital Association. Not only do we want to increase the level of investment knowledge of our entrepreneurs but also of our investors and future investors. As you know, diversity and inclusion is a big problem in the investment community. When entrepreneurs are looking at investors who don’t look like them, it’s harder for them to get investment. We wondered how to better prepare women and minorities to become angel investors, even if they’re not accredited yet. I reached out to the Angel Capital Association, who directed me to the Catalyst Angel Program. Of course, TechTown had already figured this out. That’s how we got engaged and then brought some of our potential angel investors with us.
What would you say is the most impactful part of the Catalyst Angel Program?
I aim to connect more investors and entrepreneurs in the local communities, and want the investors to see what’s happening and to take part in it. I want entrepreneurs to benefit from the experience and knowledge of the investors. It’s about building a community that is working towards economic prosperity for everyone.
Why is angel investing so important?
The entrepreneurs who are seeking angel investments are the ones who are going to change the way you and I live and work. And because they’re changing the world, we need to support them. Within the Catalyst Angel Program specifically, it’s important to get more people off the sidelines and engaged. I feel like this is going to continue to build that community wealth and economic prosperity. I work with the Social Capital Network group, whose priority is ensuring that everyone gets a seat at the table. Careers have been made at certain tables, but if everybody is not invited to that table, it leaves a lot of us behind. Angel investing and getting more people engaged allows entrepreneurs to get a seat at the table.
TechTown Detroit’s Catalyst Angel Program helps emerging angel investors in the Great Lakes region who identify as Black, Latinx and/or women gain knowledge about investing, engage in curated courses through partner organizations and connect with other investors in local and national angel communities. If you’re interested in learning more, complete this interest form.
