Charlotte Angel Fund LLC is selling $3 million in a private equity offering, according to a Friday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The offering began at $3 million and has sold $350,000 over the last two weeks to 12 investors. It’s the group’s first filing with the SEC, and it intends the offering to last more than one year.
Of the total proceeds, $50,000 will cover administrative costs. An intended use was not detailed for the remainder of the offering.
The fund’s portfolio of six companies largely includes biotechnology and health care companies. But it also includes one augmented reality company, PRSONAS, which uses holograms and artificial intelligence to personify companies’ personas in an attempt to better relate to customers.
Gregory Brown, the fund’s administrator, signed the filing. He is a contract chief financial officer through his Charlotte company, Cardinal Finance, where he also focuses on the needs of small companies, according the company’s website.
Brown is a proponent of diversifying Charlotte’s sprawling sectors. “The reality is that Charlotte’s economy is pretty good, so many see no need to change it,” he said in an interview with Spengler & Agans law firm. “However, the issue is that Charlotte’s economy is concentrated in certain sectors, and those sectors have in the past and will in the future see down cycles. We need economic diversity to reduce economic risk.”
He argues that part of the problem is Charlotte’s banking culture and similar institutions. They’re not entrepreneurial enough, he said. Banks don’t like risk, and that likely translates to risk-minded employees who, conversely, would fit well in a Charlotte startup scene.
His solution: “I think what we can do is focus on things like innovative business models.” He said that’s what Charlotte Angel Investors looks for as it invests.
Private companies such as Charlotte Angel Fund, which rely on a Reg D exemption, are not required to register securities offerings with the SEC, but instead they must file a Form D electronically with the SEC after they sell the securities.
