Angel Interviews: Ehud Israel and the “funding gap” at Drexel University

Introducing Angel Interviews, a series dedicated to debunking the assumption that entrepreneurs need to look outside of Philadelphia for angel and early stage investment. Every so often we’ll interview a local angel and ask him or her about investment criteria and how to get in contact. If you’re an angel investor that deals primarily with technology companies or you have any suggestions about how we can improve this series drop us a line.
Ehud Israel wasted no time admitting that he was new to angel investing.
The 43-year-old is one of the mentors at Drexel’s Baiada Center for Entrepreneurship, a business incubator that caters exclusively to the Drexel University community, and it was in that role that he decided to invest in one of the Center’s companies: Async Interview.
“There’s a gap in our support [at the Center] of the students in respect to funding, so I’ve been trying to fill that gap,” says Israel. “It just so happens that, as a mentor, I’m in the ground floor at these ideas.”
Now in an operational role at as Async’s CFO and CTO, Israel has also invested in one other company and is keeping his ears open for other deals, though he says he is not actively pursuing companies.
We ask Israel what he looks for in a company, how to get started as an angel investor and the reason for the misperceptions about Philadelphia’s angel community.
How did you get started with investing?
I became a mentor at the Baiada Center where once a week I work with the entrepreneurs there. I see lots of types of ideas and the stage that the entrepreneur is at. A lot of what we do is at the concept level. Sometimes it runs from a t-shirt company up to a level of what I call “investable” where you have some serious ideas that warrant being able to take it to an angel investor or venture capitalist to get some serious money.
I’m tapping into a vein not a lot of people are viewing
How do these companies come across your desk?
So far its been out of the Baiada Center. There’s a gap in our support of the students in respect to funding so I’ve been trying to fill that gap. It just so happens that as a mentor I’m in the ground floor at these ideas. Most of these students come to the Baiada Center before they go anywhere else. So if you are looking at this from a deal flow perspective, I’m tapping into a vein not a lot of people are viewing.
What’s your criteria for investment? You’ve said you’ve only had two investments thus far, but what are you looking for when you look at a company?
I think I’m open in respect to industry and concept, but I’ll only invest in what I understand. I wont do pharmaceutical or biotech or anything like that. My investments tend to be tech-oriented. My other deal is in material science.
We’ve heard local entrepreneurs say there are not enough investors in Philadelphia. Investors say there are not enough entrepreneurs. Where do you fall on that spectrum, being both?
I actually there’s enough of both. What is lacking is a mechanism to get the two side to know each other. I thought about joining angel investment clubs and I have a tangential relationship with a couple of clubs. My problem was finding a fit for myself. I decided not to align myself with anybody.
But you’re only looking at two dimensions: investors and entrepreneurs. I’d add “unaffiliated angel investor” to that. I’ve found that there’s a dearth of resources to the unaffiliated angel investor to be part of the greater community. From my perspective it’s not a lack of anything, it’s a lack of coordination.
You said there’s a problem connecting, Is there a good way for someone reading this to connect to you?
The Baiada Center is really made for Drexel students, so you wont be able to get any connection that way. I’m not actively promoting myself so you have to stumble across me. I’m not actively looking for deals so maybe I’m part of the problem I’m articulating as I’m getting enough of play out of Drexel. I’m not sitting here saying, “I want to invest in 20 companies.”
Angel Interviews will occasionally profile an angel investor that primarily operates in the Philadelphia region. If you’re an angel investor and would like to be profiled, reach out.