READ FULL ARTICLE HERE (Naples Florida Weekly)
Young companies vying for $300,000 in investment capital and cash awards will try to win over Southwest Florida’s leading angel investor at a Florida Venture Forum pitch competition in Orlando in early June.
Timothy Cartwright, partner of Fifth Avenue Family Office and chairman of Tamiami Angel Funds in Naples, will be a judge at the Florida Early Stage Venture Conference at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Orlando on June 4 and 5. Organized by the Florida Venture Forum, this will be Cartwright’s ninth year as a judge at the pitch competition.
This may be the most challenging year to be a judge, says Cartwright, who, with other judges, has culled the applications and narrowed the field to a select group of finalists invited to pitch their young companies at the conference. Details of the meeting are available on the Florida Venture Forum’s website: flventure.org/florida-early-stage-venture-conference/.
“The competition for $300,000 in investment capital and dollar awards at this conference will be fierce this year,” Cartwright predicts. “Not only has the Florida Venture Forum and their co-hosts increased the prize money available, the quality of selected companies is outstanding.”
Cartwright’s presence as a judge at the statewide competition reflects Tamiami Angel Funds’ leading contributions to growing the angel investment community in the region and across the state. Naples is well-known for its large concentration of residents who have founded successful companies and are eager to help the next generation of entrepreneurs as active angel investors.
Angel investors are a source of financial support for new and emerging growth businesses because they’re wealthy individuals or families who have the means to risk their capital and freely give their time to mentor entrepreneurs in the startup phase of a business. Angel investors differ from venture capital investors because they help entrepreneurs before they seek venture capital but after they have exhausted money from friends and family.
Naples-based Tamiami Angel Funds are member-managed funds that allow high-net-worth individuals and families to invest in promising early-stage and expansion stage companies located in the U.S., with a preference for those in Florida. For more information about Tamiami Angel Funds, visit www.tamiamiangels.com.
