National Angel Capital Organization


The National Angel Capital Organization is the industry association for angel investor groups in Canada. Since its founding as National Angel Organization in 2002, the NAO has published The Primer for Angel Investment in Canada and Age of the Angel: Best Practices for Angel Groups and Investors, and A Practical Guide to Angel Investing, 2nd Edition, published in 2017. NAO changed its name from NAO to NACO in 2008.
NACO was formed after the second Angel Investor Summit, convened by CHIN UP Fund and chaired by Henry Vehovec. Since then NACO has continued to annually organize an angel investor summit to encourage networking, education, co-investment and sharing of best practices. NACO has spawned the creation of numerous angel groups across Canada, established the Co-Investment Summit and in 2008 launched awards for the top ten angel investments in Canada.
NACO also initiated the formation of the Network of Angel Organizations of Ontario.
The NACO's website provides an industry newsletter, links to best practices materials and lists angel groups across the nation.
The founding President and Chair of NACO was Henry Vehovec of Mindfirst and CHIN UP Fund in Toronto. He was succeeded as chair by Dan Mothersill of the Ciris Group in 2004, who in turn was succeeded by a founding partner, Andrew Wilkes. The current co-chairs of the organization are Ross Finlay and Michelle Scarborough.
In recognition of his dedicated volunteer efforts the NACO conferred on Mr. Vehovec the title of Honorary Chair and lifetime membership in 2005.
Present Day
In 2019, NACO announced the appointment of industry veteran Claudio Rojas, as Chief Executive Officer. Rojas has been an outspoken champion of tech companies founded by Canadians in recent years and a frequent critic of the lack of high-growth companies in ".
In May 2020, The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Canadian Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages, told tech news publication BetaKit the federal government worked to get $962 million in funding for Canada’s Regional Development Agencies, “following conversations with a number of organizations including tech CEOs, chambers of commerce, the National Angel Capital Organization, and MaRS CEO Yung Wu.”