Like an angel from the heavens, an “angel” investor is a person or group that provides funding for various reasons. Usually, the reason is to invest in a small start-up company, and the funds are usually traded for a stake in the company. As start-up companies become more and more popular, angel investors have begun to work together in associations and organizations in order to collect all of their funds together and share the profits from their investments. Currently, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of angel investors. The following is a rundown of the 5 largest angel investor groups in the United States, according to the Angel Capital Association. In essence, it is part philanthropy and part business.

Ohio TechAngel Funds

The Ohio TechAngels is a collection of various independent investors who have chosen to pool their money together in order to invest in more groups and hopefully make more profit in the process. Currently, the Ohio TechAngels have 282 individual companies that they have invested in. As the name implies, all of the investors live in the state of Ohio, but they donate to people and companies throughout the country, although their primary focus is on the Ohio and Rustbelt areas of the United States of America.

Tech Coast Angels

Based in Los Angeles, California, the Tech Coast Angels have invested in 263 start-up companies. The firm specializes in building networks for their investments as well as mentoring, business modeling and other assistance. The Tech Coast Angels prefer investing in start-up businesses in the sectors of tech, biotech, consumer products, Internet, information technology, life sciences, media, software and environmental markets.

Investor’s Circle

This angel donor group consists of angel investors that all live in the San Francisco, California area- which is near the tech industry capitol of the world. So far, Investor’s Circle has invested nearly $150 million in more than 225 companies throughout the nation. Unlike other angel investor associations, Investor’s Circle sticks to only investing in start-up companies and entrepreneurs that specialize in and focus on social and environmental issues and concerns in particular.

Golden Seeds, LLC.

This New York conglomerate currently funds 190 start-up businesses. This group is another niche one that focuses on businesses that have been created and ran by women. Members of Golden Seeds contribute their funds directly into a management account. The primary sectors that Golden Seeds, LLC. focuses on include the industries of consumer products, technology, software and life sciences.

North Coast Angel Fund

Ohio seems like a popular spot for angel investors, because North Coast Angel Found is from Ohio as well. This group focuses only on start-ups in the state of Ohio. This is primarily because the state has experienced particularly troubled times due to the recession of 2008. The North Coast Angel Fund hopes to stoke entrepreneurs in the area to start innovating the small business climate in Ohio, and thus kick start the state’s recovery from the recession and bring more jobs and money into the state.

Alexis is a traveling freelance writer. She recently earned her paralegal certificate online and is currently eyeing up some of the degrees in criminal justice that she’s interested in.

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There are few things as handy and useful as a good iPhone application. One of the most popular apps out there are the Global Positioning System (GPS) apps, which come in handy for travel directions, searching for locations and even come in handy if you lose your phone- as you can actually track your phone with the app to see where you lost it at. But, the abilities and reach of app goes well beyond that when it comes to travel, here are just a few of the most useful and popular travel apps for iPhones:

1. Hipmunk
This app is a perfect match for the frequent flyer. If you happen to be a frequent air traveler, then you are probably more than aware of the hassles that come with trying to book flights and find out air travel schedules throughout various airports. With this cell app, you can search for flights on the fly and filter them according to location, departure and arrival times, and best of all- cheapest cost. Better yet, there is also a filter called “agony,” which will show you how many layovers there will be on your flight, and how long they will be.

2. HotelPal
This is another great invention that has saved hours and hours of frustration and hopelessness for weary world travelers. This app will allow you to search for hotel vacancies for pretty much every hotel in whatever area you are looking for. The search will filter according to price, availability, check-in/ out times, amenities offered and a bunch of other things.

3. OMaps
OMaps is the map application that is automatically built-in most newer iPhones. It is just a basic map function with GPS capabilities, but its usefulness in travel can not be measured. OMaps needs 3G network access to function, so if you are roaming outside of the United States, then the cost could rack up to crazy amounts. But, the good news is that OMaps allows the user to download any maps before hand, so make sure you do that before you leave the country.

4. Foodspotting
As many a traveler already knows, there are few things as satisfying as a great meal from a different country. Odds are, the food you have in America, even if it is called “Indian” food is nothing like the food that natives eat in India. This is where Foodspotting comes in handy. The app allows you to search for restaurants in whatever area you are in and also shows you pictures of the food, the price range and reviews of the restaurant and the food from other travelers as well as publications.

5. Google Translate
With this app, it is almost as if you do not even have to bother learning a language. Almost! It still helps to have some familiarity with a language, but Google Translate can do the rest for you. The app has more than 50 languages and can translate between more than 57 languages with text displays, and it can even translate via speaking into the phone.

Jessica is a traveling freelance writer. Currently she has written on topics such as college loan consolidation programs and other, less formal pieces.

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Have been watching, and enjoying, the ESPN build up to the FA Cup for the last 3 hours. Think they have done a great job, but as we approach 3pm I am turning over to the BBC to watch …….. Snooker!

Seriously what is that about! There is something seriously wrong when the FA and TV are allowed to be so dismissive towards tradition and nostalgia!

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Am struggling to remember ever having so much apathy towards the FA Cup Final. In previous years it has been easy to support my own team (Man Utd), the underdog or even a stylish way of playing.

This year I couldn’t care less! Chelsea represent to me pretty much everything that is wrong with the modern game, and while I can usually muster enthusiasm to at least watch in the hope that they get beaten, this year that would mean wanting Liverpool to win, and I am afraid that Dalglish’s arrogance and the clubs acceptance of racism earlier in the year means they are second only to Chelsea in teams I dislike!

In fact the racism question will linger over the final for both teams.

But there is another contributor to my apathy: boredom with the sheer volume of underwhelming football on TV.

It seems to me that despite the best endeavors of pundits and commentators to convince us that everything is ‘the best’, ‘brilliant’, these days, I think the better teams are getting worse, which is why the others are catching them up.

Time wasting, cheating, diving, feigning injury, rugby tackles, lack of respect to officials, spitting, lack of use of technology …. the ‘beautiful game’? You are having a laugh!

And as for 5.15pm kick offs and playing the semi-finals at Wembley, ‘they’ have killed the nostalgia and traditions, and with it our loyalty!

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Many expats in Spain are claiming the country’s financial troubles are forcing them back to the UK. But their problems run deeper than that, says Chris Marshall. You can read my latest column for Telegraph Expat here

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Our little girl is two today. She is a very small cat, and timid around people that she doesn’t know, but around Sands and I and the other cats she is lovely, sweet, and when required a right little madam!

Basically if she wants something she gets it. She may be the smallest of the gang, but she is as feisty as they come, and more than stands up to the three boys, and wins. At the same time she is unbelievably pretty and cute as the latest pictures below show.

As I sit her typing this she is walking round the desk with her tail and head in the air, purring away and as happy as you could wish a cat to be – a far cry from when Sands rescued her with her badly broken leg, and the vet suggested we had her put down.

We didn’t and every time we take her to the vet for her annual injections Miguel is reminded (and thanked) for doing such an amazing job in saving her leg, and with it her life!

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Over the weekend Mick and I drove 45 cats and 2 dogs to their new homes in Germany for Sands and my ALStrays cat and dog re-homing and transport project.

One of the dogs was a sweet little chap called Zero. When we took the little chap for a walk and to go the toilet I have to say that he had both Mick and I in tears.

He certainly has a very distinct way of having a pee!!!

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Today, mobile phones pose a lot of use for a lot of people. Before it was just a tool for communication. However, all these have changed in the advent of various mobile phone applications. Regardless if you are using an android or an iPhone, I am pretty sure that you are also benefiting from the wide array of applications that are being introduced today.

These days, budgeting and managing one’s finances is the utmost priority of majority of the population. As the economy goes down, the recognition for the need of finance management greatly arises. More and more people are trying to learn how to manage their finances more wisely.

In order to help the struggling public, programmers of both iPhone and smartphones have decided to bring the consuming public a wide array of applications that can help people manage their finances. If you are one of those people who wish to save money by budgeting and tracking your expenses, then these are exactly the applications that will suit your need.

Iphone Money-saving Apps

1.) BillMinder. This money-saving app is one of the first finance management application in iTunes. Up until today, this remains to be one of the best money-saving applications there exist. By utilising this amazing application, you will get to remember the due date and the amount of bills that you should settle. With this application, you will never get to miss the deadline. As a result, you can avoid interests , which can help you save money. The best thing about this app is that it is very easy to set up. This is a must-have for every iPhone user.

2.) QuickTip Tip Calculator. Most of us give tips that are more than the recommended. Also, a lot of people gets stressed just by computing how much tip they should give. This app will relieve you of this problem as this will do the calculation for you. All you need to do is to enter the amount of your bill and it will automatically give you the amount of tip that you should give.

3.) Ask Dave Ramsey. This application is influenced by Ramsey’s radio show, which helps people know how they can make their money work for them. In these app, you will be seeing hundreds of questions and answers that are related to finance.

Smartphone Money-Saving Apps

1.) Money Tips. This is a free finance management application from smartphones. This is like QuickTip but it is used for androids.

2.) Abukai Expenses. This application makes doing expenses reports a lot easier! All you need to do is to take a picture of all the receipts that you have collected. After that, Abukai takes care of everything. It will be the one to create a report. Check your e-mail and you will be getting the report in Excel spreadsheet. Together with the email, you will be receiving the pictures of your receipts.

With these applications, anyone can be a pro at managing their finances. These apps are so useful, even businessmen and professional are using these!

This post is written by Joyce. She is a content contributor for premierstudentloan.com. Along with writing freelance, Joyce is into finance and education blogging.

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Another birthday celebration today, this time for the youngster in the family, Dusky. The little fella is one today, and it is amazing how well he has settled into our life.

You couldn’t wish for a happier more placid cat, that gets on with everyone, and seems incapable of walking and not purring at the same time!

He purred all the way back from the beach when we found him abandoned last summer, and Sands had fallen in love with him by the time she had carried him back.

All the other cats love him to bits and he is such an appreciative cat, demands very little, and is always on the look out for something or someone to play with.

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Mori is 6 years old today! Amazing to look back over the last 5 and a half years that we have been privileged to have been owned by the handsome fella, at how quickly the time has gone and how much our lives have changed.

When we adopted Moreno both Sands and knew it was going to change of life, and to be honest the desire to change was a huge factor in our decision. We had already decided to base ourselves in Spain, but had spent the previous 18 months splitting our time between Spain, UK and USA and we both felt that we had had enough of that lifestyle and wanted a more grounded, simpler future.

Enter Moreno and the start of a truly amazing 6 years. With 5 cats and the ALStrays cat re-homing and transport project a testimony to how much influence he has had on our lives, it isn’t overstating it to say that the little fella has totally transformed and influenced our lives.

As we have added more cats to the family he has been brilliant with all of them, and he loves playing with them, cuddling up to them, and keeping them in order, but at the end of the day he is happiest still cuddled up with me. He spends hours every day curled up on my knee as I write at the computer, joins us on the sofa each night, and is an ever present curled up between my legs at night on the bed.

He is a strong character, and is a tad fussy as to who he likes to come into the house, as it is very much his house and hos family to protect.

As you can see he is very much at home up on the roof enjoying the sun, which is where we will spend a lot of today. Fresh prawns are on the menu for the cats today and an extra lot of attention and fuss.

Happy Birthday Mori, we all love you to bits x

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