Australian-run Kayweb Angels has opened its next round of applications for its US-based fund, having already invested in six start-ups including WhoIsGreen.com, which has Australian founders.<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Kayweb Angels is a New York-based angel fund founded by Sydney entrepreneur Haig Kayserian, who is keen to add to his current portfolio.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The fund, which provides development services and mentoring in exchange for equity, is asking start-ups to submit their applications for investment consideration in April.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Start-ups have until February 29 to apply. According to Kayserian, there is no limit on the number of start-ups that will be selected.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Kayweb Angels board will review and discuss each application at length, ensuring they meet the investment criteria.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThe form asks what problem your start-up is trying to solve and how,\u201d Kayserian says.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIt asks for a summary of your competitive landscape and financial plan, as well as information about yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThese are all valid questions that entrepreneurs with business ideas need to answer for themselves before seeking investment anyway. \u201c<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWe may ask some entrepreneurs for additional information during this consideration process.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThe best applications, which meet our investment criteria, are asked to pitch in person to Kayweb Angels. From those pitchers, we select our portfolio companies.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Kayserian identities mobile as a major growth area in 2012, with US and Australian consumers using smartphones and tablets to browse online, rather than PCs and laptops.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cFor this reason, I would like to see 4G growth accelerated, and public WiFi availability in Australia to match that which we see in the United States,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n According to Kayserian, location-based services will also continue to grow as they become more embedded in social media and eCommerce.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201ceCommerce will also grow in 2012\u2026 And, with the economic downturn still around, I expect group buying will stick around, albeit with fewer players,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThere are other areas \u2013 like niche directories, education and specialised social networking \u2013 that I am hearing some exciting things about.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Kayserian says he\u2019s he impressed by the level of activity he witnessed in Australia in 2011, namely the rise of start-up incubators such as Startmate and Pushstart.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI saw a couple of big tech exits and also some funding coming in for Australian start-ups [in 2011],\u201d Kayserian says.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThere is no reason why this will not continue in 2012, and I would more than welcome Aussies applying for Kayweb Angels for investment in projects that can prosper in the US.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThere is a gaping hole in the tech investment market for a core investment of engineering services to businesspeople with great web or mobile ideas, but not enough technical knowledge to see these ideas into reality.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Australian-run Kayweb Angels has opened its next round of applications for its US-based fund, having already invested in six start-ups<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60953,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41298"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41298\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}