Entrepreneurs are everywhere — capital isn’t.
That’s why Natalia Oberti Noguera is bringing Pipeline Fellowship to South Florida.
Pipeline Fellowship is a bootcamp and network to help train future female angel investors for social entrepreneurial ventures, said Oberti Noguera, founder and CEO of the national organization (pictured). Its goal is to increase diversity in the angel investing community and create capital for women social entrepreneurs.
Oberti Noguera said the group was moved to open a Miami chapter after hearing from social entrepreneurial founders here. She said there are already wealthy South Florida women who are contributing philanthropically. Why not train them to invest in the next generation of world changers?
Bootcamp participants will get instruction in due diligence, term sheets, portfolio strategies and other aspects of investing. Toward the end of the six-month bootcamp, fellows-in-training attend a pitch summit and together choose one women-led companies to invest in. There’s skin in the game: Each invests at least $5,000.
Since launching its first bootcamp in April 2011, Pipeline Fellowship has trained more than 70 women, and it is now in New York City, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
Oberti Noguera said some graduates go on to invest in tech startups outside the social entrepreneurial space or even — gasp — in companies founded by men. That’s fine with her. The idea is to get more women into the investing pipeline. “We’re changing the face of angel investing,” she says.
To be considered, you must meet accredited investor requirements, be interested in group learning and have a passion for social entrepreneurship. Pipeline’s first class begins later this year, and on Monday it opened its call for participants. To apply: http://pfapply.seamlessdocs. com/f/spring2013
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Posted: March 10, 2014. Photos of a recent Pipeline Fellowship Bootcamp and Natalia Oberti Noguera are by Erica Torres.