The center said only 26 percent of the angel funding went to companies in the seed and start-up stages, far below the 45 percent two years ago.
Another trend cited by University of New Hampshire researchers is the rise in "latent angels" - wealthy individuals involved in one of the many organized angel groups that could invest, but have not. The percentage of latent angels had risen to 65 percent during the first half of 2010 from 36 percent in 2008.
Locally, there are several active angel networks, including the Mid-Atlantic Angel Group, which has been raising its second fund. Timothy E. Flatley, a Berwyn investment adviser and chairman of what he calls MAG II, said the $4.8 million committed so far exceeded the first fund's $4.4 million.
It was quite a challenge to raise money for a fund born "in the teeth of the crisis," said Flatley, referring to the financial and economic meltdowns.
But he was clearly hop-
ing for more participation after the decision was made to extend the "hard close" for MAG II from April to the end of December.
After all, the first fund had made 13 investments since its start in 2005. Investors got money back after acquisitions involving two of them:
Preclick Corp., of Atlantic Highlands, N.J., was acquired by Smilebox Inc., a Redmond, Wash., photo service, for an undisclosed amount in 2009.
Protez Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Malvern antibiotics devel-
oper, was bought by Novartis AG for $100 million in 2008.
Ten other companies that MAG I had invested in remain active; one firm failed.
