Angel HQ is delighted to be able to offer you a unique opportunity – a day long seminar covering all the essentials of angel investment on Monday 14 June 2010 with renowned, angel investor, Bill Payne.

Bill has over 25 years experience and has invested in over 50 companies, mentored hundreds more and founded four angel networks. He will be supported on the day by experienced Wellington-based, angel investors and industry experts such as Dave Moskovitz from WebFund, Phil McCaw from Movac, Owen Gibson from PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Glenn Milnes from No8 Ventures and Susan Iorns and Jelle Sjoerdsma from Angel HQ.

Topics covered:

• Deal selection
• Due diligence
• Deal structure
• Valuation
• Post-investment relationships

For more info and registration details, download the flyer.

MusicHype is a platform for bands and their fans to interact directly with each other and build valuable relationships. It takes a novel approach that integrates existing music and social networks into a cohesive, interactive, and fun online experience for music fans.

Disclosure: I’m a significant investor in MusicHype, and Chairman of its board – [Dave]

The Pitch:
The music industry is changing rapidly: Bands find it hard to engage with fans and make money online, fans find it hard to access the music they love in a sea of visual and aural noise, and labels find it hard to maintain relevance.

MusicHy.pe is an efficient and entertaining promotional distribution platform that enables major bands to connect directly with their fans and make money online. MusicHype is creating the new music industry bringing bands and fans together online and offline.

For fans, we aggregate relevant music and news in a curated experience that spans existing social networks and music services. Fans can take part in competitions, listen to and watch live and recorded gigs, buy gig tickets, merchandise and digital music, collaborate with bands to help create album artwork, videos and songs, and increase social status and music cred with through our loyalty points system.

MusicHype delivers direct sales revenue and increases audiences for bands using our integrated social media promotion and sales platform. Bands working with MusicHype use our platform to implement album and tour promotions while reaching across Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and the wider web.

MusicHype is a game-changing model, built on globally and scalable technology, backed by a dedicated and internationally experienced team.

Accomplishments to date:

We’ve validated the business model albeit on a small scale in New Zealand.  After our first outing with the iconic NZ band The Mint Chicks, we’ve produced some brilliant metrics.  In our first three months, working with one band, we achieved:

• 24,902 site visits
• 11,183 unique visitors
• 5:04 minutes average time on site
• 1740 members (15.5% conversion rate)
• Excellent montisation per member at significant gross margins.

We have been approached by numerous bands and labels in New Zealand and overseas who want to work with us.

Development plans:

• We plan on launching in North America as soon as possible
• We will be seeking a US-based CEO for that operation
• Rapid scale

Key Challenges:

• Deploying on-the-ground resources in North America
• Speed to market
• Selecting the optimal growth rate

Principals & Previous Experience:

Jeff Mitchell – MD & Solutions Architect – Jeff has over 10 years of experience in web application development and management. Jeff’s expertise lies in platform development and strategy, social network integration and mobile technology.

Annabel Youens – Digital Strategist – Annabel has been working with e-commerce sites and online social communities before they were buzz words. Annabel’s expertise lies in communications, community management and business development.

Dave Moskovitz – Chairman – Dave has founded and funded numerous online startups, and is passionate about rebuilding a sustainable music industry. As Chairman of WebFund, Dave brings extensive experience, capability, and networks into the mix.

What they want from an investor:

MusicHype is seeking NZD 400K in equity to enable a North American launch.  The ideal investor will have some music industry experience and contacts, and be want investment exposure to creative / collaborative communities and social media.

Who the offer is open to:

The offer is open to eligible persons as defined in Section 5 (2CC) of the Securities Act 1978 who invest either directly or syndicated through AngelHQ / AngelLink.

Contact details:

Marie-Claire Andrews, AngelHQ
Email: Marie-Claire.Andrews@growwellington.co.nz
Tel: +64 21 81 4224

Note: If you plan to act on any information on this site, please be sure to read the disclaimer.

More than $50 million was invested by New Zealand angel investors into 63 young companies in 2009 – a 72 percent increase on the previous 12 month record of $29 million invested in 2008, based on data collected by Young Company Finance.

Full data on 2009, as well as a number of other interesting articles and industry news is available in the latest issue of Young Company Finance #8 – February 2010.  This issue also contains an exclusive interview with Dave Moskovitz.

Cumulatively, $127 million has now been invested into young companies by angels since Young Company Finance began collating data in 2006.

NZVIF chief executive Franceska Banga said angel investors are the playing an increasingly significant role in the financing of high-growth, innovative start-ups.

“The increased activity results from a number of years of market development by the angel investment community, NZVIF’s Seed Co-Investment Programme, NZTE’s Escalator Programme, and economic development agencies and incubators throughout the country.

“As the number of companies being invested in grow, and those companies need follow-on investments, the investment activity increases.  The challenge facing the industry and our capital markets is to ensure there is sufficient investment capital to fund further growth.

“These companies represent part of the ‘pipeline’ of companies referred to by the Capital Markets Development Taskforce.  Some will be the next generation of top New Zealand companies on publicly listed markets- providing our capital markets can provide the investment to allow them to grow and develop through the growth pipeline.”

Of the $50 million invested last year, $20 million was into first round investments – the highest annual dollar value of investment into new companies – and $30 million comprised follow-on investments.  In terms of the stage at which investment was made, $8.9 million was seed investment, $29.9 million was at the start-up stage, $11.2 million at the early expansion level, and $300,000 at the expansion stage.

There is greater syndication of deals – meaning angel groups are collaborating with each other to raise funds for investments.  In 2009, 48 percent of deals were syndicated and 52 percent were not.  In 2006, just 26 percent of deals were syndicated and 74 percent were not.

Deal flow for the year was substantively increased on 2008. In 2009, 63 deals were completed, compared with 29 in 2008 and 49 in 2009.  Average deal size in 2009 was $800,000.

Since 2006, by region, 54 percent has been invested in Auckland, 12 percent in Christchurch, 11 percent in Dunedin, 9 percent in Wellington and 5 percent in Palmerston North.  Software and services have received 28 percent of the amount invested, followed by pharmaceuticals (23%), technology, hardware and equipment (13%), and food and beverage (12%).

Download Young Company Finance Number 8 – February 2010.

WebFund has invested in a new start-up, MusicHype, a music industry platform provider which will enable well-known bands and their fans to form valuable relationships.

The MusicHype team includes WebFund Directors Dave Moskovitz and Stefan Korn, Managing Director James O’Hare, Digital Strategist Annabel Youens, CTO Jeff Mitchell, and Hypemaster Adam Bryce.