The Helm Investor Community

The Helm is a New York venture firm that invests in female entrepreneurs, and its investor community is the membership layer around that fund. Members get access to the firm's deal flow as a syndicate rather than having to source companies themselves.

Who joins

Membership itself is open to anyone. Investing is not: to take part in deals a member must be an accredited investor under SEC rules, meaning income above US$200,000 individually or US$300,000 with a spouse for two consecutive years, or net assets above US$1 million excluding a primary residence, or qualifying institutional status.

Separating the two is a sensible structure. Someone who wants the education and the community but does not yet meet the threshold can still join and learn, which is not true of most syndicates.

How membership works

The fee is US$750 a year, which is among the lowest published figures in this category.

The investment commitment is separate and modest by the standards of this directory: members are expected to take part in at least one deal a year, with a minimum cheque of US$2,500. Set that against 37 Angels, which asks US$25,000 a year, and the difference in who each network is built for becomes clear.

What members get

Three things, and the third is the one that separates this from a deal-listing service.

A six-part masterclass on angel investing, plus other material aimed at people funding companies rather than running them. Access to vetted opportunities as a syndicate, described as often insider-only, since they come from a working venture firm's pipeline rather than from open submissions. And office hours with a partner of The Helm's venture fund, to work through diligence and investing questions directly.

That last item is unusual. Most networks give you deal flow and leave you to evaluate it. Time with a professional investor who has already looked at the company is a materially different level of support, particularly for someone early in their investing life.

For a family office, the low entry cost and small minimum make this an easy way to give a family member real exposure to venture investing with professional supervision, at a total annual commitment of a few thousand dollars. For an office deploying serious capital into venture, the cheque sizes here are too small to matter and a direct relationship with funds will serve better.