Jeff Harbach, executive director of the Central Texas Angel Network

The Central Texas Angel Network has 105 investors from all over Texas including one from San Antonio and others from states like Iowa, Illinois and New York and other parts of the world including Belgium and India.
And although its investors hail from far flung places, the angel network concentrates its investments locally.
“We consider Central Texas to be Austin and San Antonio,” said Jeff Harbach, executive director of CTAN.
Last year, CTAN invested $5.7 million in 22 companies and so far this year, the organization has invested $5 million in 18 companies.
In three years, CTAN investors have put more than $15 million into regional startup companies.
The Halo Report, compiled by the Angel Resource Institute recently named CTAN as one of the most active angel networks in the country. And even though CTAN does a lot of technology deals, it’s not solely focused on that industry.
“We’re industry agnostic,” Harbach said.
CTAN invests in a wide variety of companies and industries including consumer products, information technology, software, mobile and more.
“We tend to look at just about everything,” he said. “But someone looking to build a bowling alley in Buda we’re probably not the right place for them.”
Since its founding in 2006, CTAN has invested in more than 50 companies.
CTAN has five funding cycles a year. The application deadlines for each one are listed on its website. The organization also holds “office hours” at a local coffee shop ten times a year. It’s a chance for entrepreneurs to get feedback on their ventures from angel investors. Entrepreneurs have to apply in advance to participate.
“I always tell entrepreneurs to go to the office hours,” Harbach said. “It’s a good opportunity for entrepreneurs to get in front of investors. In our community, as great as it is, there aren’t a lot of meetups where you can go and talk directly to investors and get feedback.”
CTAN investors generally take an equity stake in the company they back. Some angels to debt deals. The investments range from $200,000 to $2 million.