Financial angels reaching new heights: Northern Ontario Angels grow investor network, broker more deals.

• Author: Myers, Ella
• Position: SMALL BUSINESS

Northern Ontario investors are quiet, but they've been busy.

The Northern Ontario Angels (NOA) investor network is officially the highest ranking in Canada with over $50 million in deals.

Executive director Mary Long-Irwin, who's been with the organization since 2009, has watched many of those investments come to fruition.

"We have a much smaller population but our investors are very strong in coming to the table with their support and dollars," said Long-Irwin. "I get asked a question all the time: why are your companies so successful? The angel investor not only puts that money on the table, they also support that that company by mentoring, by introducing that business to their networks."

In 2005, the NOA was created after a series of FedNor sessions across the five major Northern Ontario cities that found Northern entrepreneurs struggling with finding investors. When local businesses did find investors, they were often in the south or elsewhere in Canada, which had its drawbacks.

"They would say yes, we'll give you the investment but now you must take your business to Toronto. We had these brilliant businesses but we would wind up losing them," said Long-Irwin.

For the first four years, the NOA mostly consisted of workshops and educating people on how to become investor ready. What changed in 2009 was the active recruitment of local investors, largely thanks to Long-Irwin.

"When I stepped in, I had a fairly large network and I went to that network and said this is what we need.

"It started much slower than it is today, but once you get a critical mass, once you get certain angels, then it's easy to attract new investors."

Long-Irwin estimates she started with around a dozen investors scattered across the North. She now works with approximately 300.

The $50 million in investments has gone towards 147 new startups, created 1,350 new jobs, and maintained around 300. Long-Irwin said the payroll from these...