Ankeny Angels, an angel investor group with roots in Ankeny, calls itself a “quiet little group,” facilitator Joey Beech said.

But it is making a big impact, with $1.5 million invested in 13 businesses.

Ankeny Angels, which currently has 25 Central Iowa-based members, was born in 2015 through a collaboration between the city of Ankeny, the organization Beech ran at the time called Ankeny Economic Development Corp. and the local chamber of commerce. 

“[We] got together and said, ‘What do we want? We know Ankeny is growing. What would we like to see it be in 10 years and then, based on what we want to see, what do we need to do now?’ And one of the things was we need to support businesses … and [help] entrepreneurs in their journey.”

When the group did its research prior to beginning its work, Beech said it sought help from leaders of Plains Angels, a Central Iowa-based network of angel investors, and Ames Seed Capital, which is an equity-based investment fund operated by the Ames Regional Economic Alliance.

Beech said businesses usually find Ankeny Angels, rather than the other way around. The pitch process is similar to what they would go through with Plains Angels, she said.

“There’s the standard, ‘Who are you, what’s the problem you’re trying to solve? How are you solving it? And how are you going to be able to make this a business that would ultimately not only survive and thrive, but that the investors might be able to see a return on?’”

The group will hear pitches from Iowa-based businesses, she said. Businesses don’t have to be from Ankeny to pitch, but it helps. All investors make individual investment decisions, she said

“You’re just more likely to pay attention to something if it’s local,” she said.

Ankeny has more angel investors than are involved in Ankeny Angels, Beech said. 

“There are many who would much rather invest on their own and based on their background … their experience and other things, they get a lot of things pitched to them every day, where our group is just a little smaller,” she said. “And sometimes [something] that can come out of our group is helping make a connection, even if it doesn’t end up resulting in us actually investing in it.”

Ankeny Angels has historically focused on consumer and agricultural products as well as health care-related businesses more than software companies, Beech said. 

The group has invested in notable Central Iowa companies, including agtech startup PowerPollen, Ames-based Gross-Wen Technologies and hot sauce company Lola’s Fine Foods.

One of its more recent investments is Koos Medical Innovations, which has reinvented hospital gowns to reduce the spread of infection.

Founder Maggie Koos, from Ankeny, has received support from all three Des Moines-area angel investing groups: Plains Angels, FIN Capital Investor Association and Ankeny Angels.

She said angel investments have made a difference in her journey as an entrepreneur. Angel investors are individuals who provide seed capital to new businesses or startups, usually in exchange for convertible debt or ownership equity. They are often one of the first sources of funding that founders seek out when starting their companies.

“It is everything,” she said. “It is what allows an entrepreneur to go from having an idea to having a business, because there is, especially in health care … a big gap from where you start to when you actually start having revenue from your product selling. So angel investors are a rare sort of person that are willing to get on board and invest in you, to allow you to just get started. Without them, I don’t think very many entrepreneurs would make it. I mean, it’s a risky business anyways, but angels at least make it [so] you have a shot.”

Koos attributes her success in attracting angel investors to “solving a problem that I experienced personally.”

“It wasn’t as if I was wanting to be a business owner, and just thought I’d start with this,” she said. “I was a practicing physician and saw a real problem and came up with a solution. And I think that really has helped, because I think the angel groups here can see how this can help locally, and then nationally and then globally.”

Dustin Petersen is one of the early founders and collaborators who helped form Ankeny Angels. 

He was on the Ankeny Economic Development Corp. Board when there was a meeting discussing the needs of Ankeny for the next decade and century, he said.

“One of the topics that was brought up as part of this collaboration meeting was centered around the cultivation corridor, and making this position between the Des Moines metro and Ames, and our group felt like it would be nice for Ankeny to participate in the growth of that corridor,” he said. “One way we felt like we could participate was perhaps at connecting early-stage startups with angel investors and creating a culture there of innovation and driving startup businesses forward.”

He said the concept Ankeny Angels came up with was similar to Plains Angels where they created a roster of accredited investors with a community focus to drive investment opportunities.

The requirements to qualify as an accredited investor, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, are a net worth of over $1 million, excluding a primary residence, and an income of over $200,000 for an individual, or $300,000 for a couple, for each of the previous two years.

“Early on our hope was that we really build this cultivation corridor and create Ankeny as a startup haven,” he said. “And over time, our goals and mission maybe changed a little bit. We’re not entirely focused on just Ankeny and the cultivation corridor, but more Iowa-based businesses.” 

Angel investors create a culture of innovation through more than just “throwing your checkbook around,” he said.

“There were other things that were going on early on with our group, and that we were doing some, let’s call it counseling,” he said. “So members of our group were meeting with small startups and talking to them about their ideas and how to build a business plan and how to put things together for starting up a business. Those weren’t even necessarily capital-related, those were more just, ‘Hey, these are mentors that have small businesses, or have been involved with small businesses, that can help you get off on the right foot.’”

Petersen said he hopes Ankeny Angels has made a difference in people’s lives.

“I had a college professor one time that told me to leave an impact, do something to help others,” he said. “It’s fun to see people achieve their dreams.”