Regional Angel Investment Network

What Regional Angel Investment Network does

Regional Angel Investment Network (RAIN Indiana) is a private investment collective founded in 1998 and headquartered in Wayne/Fort Wayne, Indiana, that focuses on acquiring Indiana-based small businesses from owners seeking liquidity or exit events. The collective operates with 1-10 employees under Managing RAIN Member Dr. Mark Hagar, who brings 30+ years of experience in acquiring and operating small businesses, and has accumulated over 25 years of M&A activity in the Indiana small-business segment.

The firm's functional offering is two-sided. On the supply side, it provides free, confidential consultations to Indiana business owners considering an exit, with the implicit value proposition being a relationship-driven local buyer rather than a strategic acquirer or auction process. On the capital side, it offers curated participation opportunities to accredited investors within a closed network, allowing them to co-invest in regional acquisitions selected by the collective. Deal flow and diligence are conducted manually and locally; no proprietary technology platform, software product, or AI-assisted tooling is referenced in the firm's public positioning.

Economically, the collective generates returns through equity ownership in the operating businesses it acquires rather than through management fees or carried interest disclosed in the source material. Revenue mechanics are therefore tied to the performance and eventual exit of portfolio companies, making near-term cash flow visibility a function of the underlying operating businesses. The Midwest — and Indiana in particular — is the stated operational geography, with no disclosed expansion into adjacent verticals or geographies beyond what the "currently building a diversified portfolio" posture implies.

Name

Regional Angel Investment Network

Legal name

Regional Angel Investment Network

Website

https://www.rainindiana.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Regional Angel Investment Network is a Fort Wayne, Indiana-based private investment collective, founded in 1998, that acquires Indiana small businesses from owners seeking exits and offers curated co-investment opportunities to a network of accredited investors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Private Equity / Small Business Acquisition Services

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (52394), Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Micro-VC & Angel Funds (FSANAAAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Micro-PE / Lower Middle Market ETA Funds (FSANALAG)

Keywords

• Private business acquisitions
• Business succession advisory
• Angel investment collective
• Small business buyouts
• Regional M&A services

Headquarters

HQ city

Wayne

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Investment Returns from Portfolio Companies: RAIN Indiana generates returns through equity ownership in acquired businesses. As an investment collective, they earn returns from the potential appreciation and income generated by their diversified portfolio of private company investments in the Midwest United States.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Core offering

Regional Angel Investment Network (RAIN Indiana) is an investment collective that acquires small, locally-rooted Indiana and Midwest businesses from owners seeking to exit due to retirement, re-career, health, financial distress, or other liquidation events. It provides free, confidential consultation and divestment assistance to selling business owners, while pooling capital from member investors to fund acquisitions, offering those investors current income and long-term capital appreciation through a diversified portfolio of private company investments.

Product overview

RAIN Indiana operates as a single unified investment services platform focused on business acquisition and divestment assistance. The company connects business owners seeking exits with investor capital, facilitating the purchase of small, locally-based Indiana businesses. Their service encompasses the full acquisition process from initial confidential consultation through final transaction, targeting businesses with reliable revenue and steady growth potential.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• RAIN Indiana Business Acquisition Services End-to-end business acquisition and divestment assistance for Indiana-based small businesses, including free confidential consultation to selling owners, identification of acquisition targets meeting RAIN's criteria (small, reliable revenue, steady growth, local), and deployment of pooled member-investor capital to acquire and operate those businesses while preserving local jobs and community presence.

Quantifiable outcome

• Businesses and jobs kept local after sale, contributing to community economic preservation

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Acquire.com: Online marketplace and acquisition community for buying and selling small, often internet-enabled businesses. Comparable to RAIN as a platform that connects SMB sellers with buyers/investors and operates in the lower-middle-market acquisition space, though with a heavier tech-startup tilt than RAIN's Main Street Indiana focus.
• Acquira: Acquisition-focused community and fund platform helping investors buy and operate small businesses. Closely mirrors RAIN's model of pooling investor capital to acquire established SMBs, with shared emphasis on a network/membership structure for deal sourcing.

Emerging players

• Indie Next: Search fund accelerator supporting entrepreneurs acquiring SMBs through the ETA model. Comparable to RAIN as a structured pathway for buying small operating businesses, though Indie Next focuses on individual searchers rather than a pooled investor collective.
• Search Fund Accelerator: Accelerator program supporting first-time searchers and ETA acquisitions of SMBs. Comparable to RAIN in the lower-middle-market acquisition space, with both organizations helping fund and execute purchases of small operating companies.

Broad incumbents

• Sunbelt Business Brokers: Large, established business brokerage franchise focused on Main Street SMB M&A across the U.S. Comparable to RAIN as a buyer/seller intermediary for small businesses, though Sunbelt operates at significantly greater scale and geographic breadth.
• Transworld Business Advisors: Global business brokerage franchise serving SMB mergers, acquisitions, and franchising. Comparable to RAIN in addressing the same Main Street SMB buyer/seller market, but with a much larger network and broader service portfolio.
• Generational Equity: Established M&A advisory firm focused on lower-middle-market and Main Street business sales. Comparable to RAIN in targeting the same seller demographic — owners approaching exit — though operating with a much larger team and broader U.S. footprint.
• Middle Market M&A Firms (e.g., MHT MidSpan): Middle-market M&A advisory firm focused on lower-middle-market business sales. Comparable to RAIN in serving the same owner-driven exit market for SMBs, though with a more institutionalized advisory model and national reach.

Regional players

• NewSpring Capital: Lower-middle-market private equity firm with strong Mid-Atlantic and U.S. presence. Comparable to RAIN as a regionally anchored capital provider targeting SMBs and emerging-market companies, though operating at substantially greater fund scale.

Others

• Acquisition.com: Education and community platform for entrepreneurs acquiring and scaling cash-flowing businesses. Comparable to RAIN in its mission to drive more capital into SMB acquisitions, though positioned primarily as an educational/influencer brand rather than a direct acquirer.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/regional-angel-investment-network-rain-indiana

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Regional Angel Investment Network