I N T ROD UCT I ON Ange l I nves t i ng du r i ng COV ID-19
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to meet with them in-person were problematic and stopped investing. Other investors responded to these challenges by undertaking due dili- gence on a collaborative basis with other investors and investing in syn- dicates with other angels. As we note later in the report, angel orga- nizations are likely to make many of these changes a permanent feature of the way in which they operate.
attend. Some angel organizations introduced new online meetings and events to compensate for the loss of in-person events, to develop in- vestor relations, maintain and build their investor community by creat- ing networking events (e.g. before and after pitching events), and to fa- cilitate the mentorship of investors and entrepreneurs. And while some angels made this transition with lit- tle or no difficulty, others found that the difficulties in relationship build- ing and engagement with entrepre- neurs because of not being able
Nevertheless, the pandemic has had significant impacts on the an- gel investment process. Angel or- ganizations moved their investment pitches and other meetings online, with some recording them and mak- ing them available to their members on-demand. However, it needs to be acknowledged that because of the geographical environment in which they operate, a few angel organiza- tions have always operated online, using Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Slack and Skype. This shift to online pitch- ing events enabled more angels to
202 1 ANNUAL REPORT ON ANGEL I NVEST I NG I N CANADA The Chang i ng Landscape
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