The First MENA Focused Angel Investment Course

Who is this course for?

This course covers the general principles and practices of angel investment but focuses on angel investment in the MENA region specifically. The course is offered in both Arabic and English.

How long is it?

The course takes 8 hours to complete. You can take this course online or attend a live session in your city. For more information, check our events page or reach out to us via the contact us section.

How much does it cost?

The registration fee for the online course is $1,000 USD for a  live session. You will receive an Angel Investment Certificate upon completing the course.

Angel Investment Course Outline

SECTION 1: ANGEL INVESTMENT

This section is a general introduction to angel investment. In this section we will cover the following topics:​

1.1. Introduction

  • Definition
  • Business angel lifecycle
  • Business angels in the funding ladder
  • Characteristics and skills of angel investors
  • Different types of business angels
  • Risks and rewards of being a business angel
  • Roles business angels undertake
  • How angels invest during a company’s lifetime
  • What they invest in
  • Differences between Angel Investor and Venture Capitalists

1.2. Becoming An Angel Investor

  • Setting your objectives – money, time etc
  • Serial vs occasional investing – the pros and cons
  • Giving first into a syndicate/sharing responsibilities
  • Your responsibilities and liabilities
  • Statistics on Angel Investor Performance



SECTION 2: HOW TO MAKE AN ANGEL INVESTMENT

In this section we will dive into understanding the deal flow and identifying the right opportunities. In this section we will cover the following topics:​

2.1. Sources of deal flow and identifying opportunities

  • Networks and syndicates
  • How to focus deal flow
  • Identifying what is missing
  • Confidentiality and Non disclosure agreements
  • Matchmaking agreements

2.2. Spotting the deal and analysing the opportunity – “The Pitch”

  • How to question entrepreneurs after pitching
  • Understanding the opportunity
  • Understanding the business model
  • Understanding the business plan
  • Structure of a good business plan
  • Contents of each Cohort of a business plan
  • Identifying what is missing

2.3. Company valuation

  • How to value a project
  • How to use a spreadsheets excel with valuation formulas
  • Valuation at time of exit and valorisation of the investment
  • Pre money – Post Money
  • Methods of Valuation

2.4. Selecting a portfolio of investments – diversification mitigates risk.

  • Portfolio investment theory
  • Timing
  • Personal involvement
  • 3rd party deal managers

SECTION 3: DUE DILIGENCE

A comprehensive deep dive into what due diligence is, why it’s crucial, and how to do it. In this section we will cover the following topics:

3.1. Due diligence – commercial

  • Understanding the market opportunity
  • Competitive environment
  • Product price point
  • Business terms and conditions

3.2. Due diligence – people

  • Optimal team types
  • Age and experience
  • Skills
  • Adding new team members
  • Motivating and incentivising the team
  • Legal – good leaver bad leaver etc
  • Your role in the team: short medium and long term

3.3 Due diligence – legal

  • Different legal frameworks across the world
  • Term Sheets
  • Shareholders Agreement
  • Company books and shareholder certificates
  • Different types of shares

3.4 Due diligence – financial

  • Understanding financial projections – P&L, cashflow, balance sheets
  • Dissecting the projections
  • Share capital; the ramifications of share options and convertible loans

3.5 Due diligence – exit

  • Preparing for the exit
  • Setting the exit objectives

SECTION 4: SETTING THE DEAL TERMS

This section is focused on setting the deal terms, understanding term sheets and company valuations. You will learn how deal terms work and how to negotiate them. In this section we will cover the following topics:

4.1. Setting the deal terms

  • Understanding term sheets
  • Valuing a company
  • Share rights
  • Ways to enhance potential returns
  • Shareholder Agreements and other documentation
  • Warranties and indemnities
  • Typical deal structures
  • What’s negotiable and what is not

4.2. Negotiating the deal terms

  • Understanding the terms of reference – money, involvement
  • Approaching the entrepreneur
  • What to do in a competitive auction
  • Negotiating a successful outcome
  • Investment strategies: convertible notes, options, loans
  • Shares: Ordinary shares, preferred shares, convertible bond, warrants

4.3. Governance and deal monitoring

  • Your help post investment and what rewards you should expect
  • Hitting milestones
  • Board seat/directorships/observer rights
  • Regular reporting – board papers and reports
  • Shareholder meetings
  • Dealing with common problems
  • The relationship between Angel Investor and entrepreneurs
  • Role of the lead investor

4.4. New funding rounds

  • Up round and down round valuation
  • New shareholders – angels, VCs, corporate venturers
  • Deal terms
  • Timetable considerations
  • Pitching to Venture Capital / Corporate Venture / Funds

4.5. Exits

  • Planning for the exit
  • Secondary markets prior to the exit
  • Trade sale MBO/MBI
  • IPO
  • Licensing models
  • Closing the company – voluntary
  • Closing the company – involuntary
  • The Exit Checklist

4.6. Legal agreements

  • The legal process: Type of company, Governance Players,Becoming a shareholder
  • Analysis of matchmaking agreement
  • Analysis of a confidentiality and/or exclusivity agreement
  • Analysis of a shareholders agreement
  • Analysis of a term sheet

SECTION 5: ANGEL INVESTOR NETWORKS

Learn more about angel investor networks and the benefits of angel syndication. This section will be focused on creating angel syndicates in the Middle East, and the challenges that face the region. In this section we will cover the following topics:

5.1. Setting up an angel investment group

  • Statistics on raising investment
  • Forming a group – advantages and disadvantages of the different options
  • Organisational structıre of an angel group / Angel Investor Members – BANManager / Lead Investor
  • Budgeting a BAN
  • Workflow of an angel group: From deal screening to investment
  • Understanding the legal frameworks
  • Setting syndicate rules
  • Creating the deal pipeline
  • Showing deals to investors
  • Post commitment follow up