David Steakley

Feb 18, 2015

Email  |  Twitter The Houston Angel Network closed a record year in 2014 with investments up 65 percent from the year before. Altogether, HAN provided $15.3 million in 66 deals in 2014, its largest year on record, according to a statement. This comes after the Houston Angel Network was rated as the most active angel network in the state and the third most active in the country last year. Start your day with Houston Business Journal news in your inbox. Sign up for Morning Edition here. One of HAN's high-profile deals for 2014 is the Virtuix Omni deal, in which HAN was part of a $2.7 million round . Looking ahead to 2015, the life science sector will continue to be a strong area of focus for HAN, said David Steakley , chairman of the Houston Angel Network. "I think that as big as 2014 was, 2015 will be bigger for life science deals," Steakley told the Houston Business Journal. The Houston angel investor previously said the state needs all the money it can get for early-stage deals to help create more deal flow in Texas and attract entrepreneurs as well as established companies. Pointing to efforts from several different organizations to bolster the city's life science startup ecosystem, Steakley expects continued growth for health care in 2015. Some of those efforts include the new TMCx accelerator out of the Texas Medical Center , Johnson & Johnson's JLabs at TMCx and Houston Health Ventures. For 2015, the Houston Angel Network likely won't eclipse the amount of money from 2014, but Steakley expects the year to be strong overall. Joe Martin covers quality of life, health care and technology for the Houston Business Journal. Follow him on Twitter for more. Related links: