Angel Investing Decoded: Insights from IL Angel Club's Ram Yonish

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At Dan Launchpad, we regularly connect our startup community with investment experts who can provide valuable perspectives on the funding landscape.

Last month, we hosted Ram Yonish, CEO of IL Angel Club (ILAC), who shared fascinating insights into how angel clubs evaluate and select early-stage opportunities.

The Angel Investor's Perspective: What Moves the Needle?

Filling the DeepTech Gap

The DeepTech sector in Israel faces significant funding challenges, creating a gap that hinders innovation in crucial technological fields.

To address this issue, the Israel Innovation Authority has issued a tender for investor clubs specifically designed to fill this funding gap and reinvigorate the DeepTech ecosystem.

ILAC won this tender and is now obligated to invest in at least 10 companies annually, with a minimum of 50% in DeepTech sectors.

The Early-Stage Paradox

What caught our attention was Ram's refreshingly honest approach to the early-stage investment paradox. When asked about balancing early entry with risk management, he laughed, "It absolutely is contradictory! That's why we never invest alone at pre-seed. We always co-invest with domain experts who understand specific sectors better than we do."

Risk Reduction Strategies

For ILAC, two factors dramatically reduce investment risk:

Verified customer interest: "We need evidence you know who's paying for your solution, not just that you've built cool technology."

Clear path to seed funding: "We want to see your next funding round already on the horizon. Angels at our stage need to see that founders understand the capital requirements of their venture and are actively building relationships with potential seed investors. This reduces our risk significantly because it shows you're thinking several steps ahead."

Matching Investors to Opportunities

"We work with both passive investors and those seeking active involvement," Ram explained. This flexibility allows ILAC to connect startups with the right type of capital. Some investors want to deploy funds with minimal involvement, while others bring expertise and connections alongside their investment.

Building Expertise Clusters

One of ILAC's innovative approaches involves specialized expertise clusters. "We engage professionals across sectors who provide feedback during evaluations," Ram shared. This creates a natural match with Dan Launchpad, which reduces investor risk by pre-selecting quality startups through rigorous evaluation processes.

Accessible Investment Model

ILAC offers accessible entry points at $25,000 per investment while managing downside risk effectively. As Ram noted, he dreams of "democratizing startup investments for anyone with disposable income," making the high risk, high-reward world of early-stage investing more accessible.

For Founders: What This Means for Your Fundraising Strategy

If you're building a startup in our Dan Launchpad community, Ram's insights translate to several actionable takeaways:

Follow the right channels. "We find opportunities through just two channels," Ram revealed. "Either co-investing with established funds who've already vetted companies or partnering with trusted domain experts." Being part of an ecosystem like Dan Launchpad means you're already moving through one of ILAC's preferred pathways.

Demonstrate real customer traction. Even at pre-seed stage, showing early sales momentum dramatically changes how angels perceive your risk profile. Technology alone isn't enough - angels want to see who's paying for your solution.

Map your funding journey. Angels want to see that you're already thinking about your seed round and building relationships that will make it happen. Having a clear vision of your fundraising roadmap signals maturity and planning.

Show full commitment. Ram emphasized they won't invest if founders aren't working full-time on their venture. This demonstrates the level of dedication investors expect to see.

Where Opportunities Converge: Dan Launchpad as the Bridge

For investors exploring our ecosystem, Dan Launchpad functions as a critical filter, surfacing high-potential ventures that have already demonstrated key fundamentals.

For startups in our portfolio, access to angel networks like ILAC represents one of the many pathways we create toward successful funding rounds.

Ram's excitement about the intersection of biology and computing highlights sectors where we're actively connecting founders and investors with aligned interests. For defense-sector founders particularly, his advice to explore dual-use applications resonated with several teams in our portfolio.

Looking Forward

The potential collaboration between entrepreneurship programs like Dan Launchpad and angel networks like ILAC could create a powerful ecosystem where startups receive the guidance, connections, and capital they need at exactly the right time in their journey. Both organizations share a vision for supporting early-stage companies, with opportunities for meaningful partnership in the future.

Whether you're a founder looking to connect with angel investors or an investor seeking qualified opportunities, reach out to learn how Dan Launchpad's community can help you navigate the early-stage ecosystem more effectively.