Sumner angel network attracts investors at launch

Underfunded start-ups facing 'capital gap' may have another Nashville-area source to tap

Email | Print By Milt Capps

Rachel Qualls

Nashville-area entrepreneurs who find their relatives avoiding eye contact now have another group of angel investors to petition.

Investors associated with Angel Network of Sumner County LLC recently met to consider their first two pitches from entrepreneurs — the initial such outing for the fledgling investor group created by Rachel Qualls of Hendersonville.

Qualls, 28, told NashvillePost.com this morning that seven of the ANSC's total of 20 angels attended the inaugural May 4 presentations by local entrepreneurs. She said the angels plan further scrutiny of one of the deals, later this month.

She would not identify presenting firms or angel participants, each of whom pays $2,500 per year for access to deals and other services. Qualls said ANSC has purposefully not targeted specific business sectors or set minimum-investment requirements for network angels.

Both Qualls and Nashville Capital Network Executive Director Sid Chambless said this morning that the two groups have discussed possible future collaboration to ensure adequate funding for worthy businesses.

"Assuming that they're a good syndication partner, we'd certainly partner with them to fund some early-stage deals," Chambless said. He explained that the "capital gap" is growing in Nashville, where increasingly he finds potentially viable businesses that have exhausted funds from friends and family, but which are not yet ready for venture-capital funding.

Chambless' group targets businesses seeking $500,000 to $1.5 million in early-stage capital. NCN is believed to have about 60 active angel investors.

Qualls has owned several of her own businesses and is a former financial advisor with Edward Jones. She holds undergraduate degrees in business administration and accounting from the University of Kansas.

ANSC's 11-member advisory board includes ANSC legal counsel David Kimbrough of Forsythe Kimbrough PLC; Jimmy Johnston, president, Forward Sumner Economic Council; State Sen. Diane Black; David Black, CEO, Aegis Sciences Corp.; Tom Noland and Chris Rand of Vanderbilt University's office of technology transfer and enterprise development; John Pennington, president, Hendersonville Area Chamber of Commerce; Gayla Zoz, president and CEO, Praesentia Inc.; Dennis Greeno, CEO, GreenoCPA; Darla Hall, CEO, Insight Counts, a consumer-research business; and, Gary Kaufman, CEO, HR Consulting Group.