Angels are individual investors who seek promising businesses to cultivate.

Your company need not be a high-tech business: Angels are free to pursue their own interests, so there’s no telling what sort of business might intrigue them. Usually, though, they’re interested in companies at earlier stages than venture capitalists will consider. And angels typically have smaller sums of money to commit: on the order of $100,000 to $1 million.

Despite the current air of caution among venture-capital firms, angels may in fact be easier to find than before. According to a study published in October 2002 by the Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire, there are now at least 170 investment groups or angel networks in the United States and Canada—significantly more than the 50 or so counted in 1997.

Another trend is the formation of angel associations interested in specific business areas such as health care, software and so on. Some have Web sites. Some offer regular opportunities for entrepreneurs to make their pitch to association members. To locate them, begin with Internet searches. If you don’t find what you need, ask your local business librarian to help.

When you’re trying to find potentially interested angels in your community, talk to people at your local SCORE office, the chamber of commerce, the Small Business Development Center at your local college and other entrepreneurs in noncompetitive companies. Ask about programs and seminars organized to link private investors with area businesses and about individuals with an interest in partnering with entrepreneurs.

Shop around carefully, though, and woo a short list of good prospects one at a time. You don’t want to blanket the community with your proposal and run the risk that two or more potential investors will discover you’re pursing all of them simultaneously.

Here are two angel investor Web sites:

• ACE-NET: The Angel Capital Electronic Network

• Angel Investor News