The Tech Coast Angels is reporting this morning that its members have now invested a total of $100M in Southern California companies, since it started in 1997. The angel investing group said the $100M was invested in more than 150 California-based companies, and included firms in the life sciences, software, Internet, biotechnology, media, business services, and consumer products areas. In addition to the lifetime total, the TCA released stats on its recent investing activity, and said it invested in 15 first-time financing and 16 follow-on funding rounds in 2008. ...Tags:

We thought today for our interview, that we'd get an update on the angel investment environment here in Southern California from Scott Sangster , the incoming President of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Tech Coast Angels , the biggest angel investment group in Southern California. Scott sat down with us last week and gave us some hints and tips about finding angel investment nowadays, and how the economy has affected local angel investors. It It seems that the economy hit angel investors pretty badly over the last couple of years, along

Luis Villalobos , the founder of the Tech Coast Angels , the largest and arguably the most influential angel group in Southern California, has passed away. Villalobos was instrumental in creating the Tech Coast Angels, which has been one of the most active groups in both investing, as well as mentoring aspiring entrepreneurs across Southern California. "His Villalobos was 72, and had been in the intensive care unit at St. Joseph's in Orange for treatment of a lung infection.

We brought together Peter Cowen of Groundwork Equity , Mark Suster of GRP Partners , Rick Smith of Crosscut Ventures , and Richard Yen of Saban Ventures -- all of who will be on the judging panel for the Tech Coast Angel's Fast Pitch on February 24th, to give us a their hints and tips about pitching to venture capitalists. Peter Cowen: It is a two minute fast pitch, and it's an amazing opportunity to be in front of several VCs and funds, plus the Tech Coast Angels, an angel group that continues to invest in roughly a deal a month.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009 -- Angel Investing - Demystified. In the current economic and venture capital climate, angel investment is an increasingly important component of the start-up capital structure. Angel networks, where high-net-worth individuals come together to screen and vet deals, are the source of much of this funding. CONNECT. Tech Coast Angels (TCA), based in exclusively in Southern California, is the largest angel group in the US, having invested over $100M in over 130 companies in the past 10 years.

The funding came from Lehman Brothers Venture Partners and also included prior lead Draper Fisher Jurvetson, along with local angel groups the Pasadena Angels and the Tech Coast Angels. Wannier said the round remains open, as the firm is still in active discussions with investors. Pasadena-based MyShape has raised $12M in a round of venture capital, the company's CEO, Louise Wannier, confirmed Monday after reports that the firm had closed a round of funding, but said the round was still in progress. MyShape runs an online apparel store which is targeted

A quick analysis by socalTECH of our tracking of venture capital deals in Southern California finds that there was around $879M in venture funding activity here in Q3. The information--gleaned from funding announcements, regulatory filings, and other sources--are not far off from socalTECH's totals from last quarter, which totaled up around $932M in investment activity. The biggest are for venture activity in the San Diego led investment activity in Q3, with a large number of the biggest VC deals all located in the area. Intellikine in La Jolla and Zogenix in San Diego both

A recent analysis by socalTECH, of our detailed tracking of venture capital investment activity in Southern California, finds that there was around $932M in funding raised in the area in Q2, a rise from roughly $700M in Q1. The most active investors in the region, in terms of activity, were the Tech Coast Angels , with five investments or follow up investments in the quarter, followed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers with three investments. Surprisingly, the numbers--based on information gleaned from funding announcements, regulatory filings, and other sources--are approximately the same as numbers in Q2 of 2008, which total around $955M, according to our own data.

The numbers--which are derived by socalTECH from venture deals reported by companies, in news, disclosed in regulatory filings, and otherwise publicly reported--showed that the biggest deals for the quarter were for SolarReserve, which raised $140M for its solar energy projects; Active Network, which scored $80M from ESPN and others; Fisker Automotive, with $65M, Sapphire Energy, with $50M; and Intelligent Beauty, which raised $43M. The most active investors for the quarter were the Tech Coast Angels, with 5 deals; the Pasadena Angels, with 3 deals; followed by Mission Ventures, First

On the third Wednesday of every month I co-chair a meeting called the SoCal VCA (venture capital alliance), which represents participants from all of the top venture capital firms in Southern California as well as prominent members of the Tech Coast Angels (TCA).  No doubt a tech M&A banker would have a bias to say that the world ahead looks rosy, but however you want to put a spin on the next 2 years I think you’ll find this data very interesting and useful.  Where Montgomery & Co Projects Deal Volume to Grow by 167% in Just 2 Years with No End to Growth in Sight