Business plans run dry for angel network

This is unprecedented. Halo Capital Group, the angel investor network, cancelled its bimonthly meeting this week because there weren’t enough potential deals to parade before the 20 members.

Jim Jay, who organizes the meetings as CEO of TechPoint, the not-for-profit group that promotes the state’s technology sector, says he can’t remember a time in Halo’s 20 months of existence when it wasn’t worth meeting.

“We’re looking for certain types of deals. We have to be selective,” Jay says. “We’re not going to have a meeting for meeting’s sake.”

The meetings, which move among members’ homes and offices, usually feature two business plan presentations.

Jay hastens to add that Halo has closed 13 deals for a total of $13 million, and that another is set to close soon. So it isn’t as if the group is going dormant.

The problem is a lack of deals like the ones Halo members want, he says. That’s a technology company with proven markets and executives. A revenue stream isn’t necessary, but is a plus.

Jay says the pipeline for the next meeting is “good.” But he says the economy might be putting a damper on entrepreneurs’ spirits. And those who are pushing ahead may be getting plenty of attention from investors.

“There are certainly deals still getting done,” he says.

What are your thoughts? Why would Halo struggle to find good deals?