History
 Many successful people who have a high net worth live in western North Carolina, attracted by the beauty of the region and the lifestyle it offers, but for a time, they were not connecting with entrepreneurs in any organized manner for mutual benefit. Without an organized capital channel, convincing promising businesses to locate and grow in the mountain region was impeded.
That all changed in 2002, when several local investors with entrepreneurial backgrounds teamed up with AdvantageWest, the regional economic development agency for the 23 counties in western North Carolina, to create the Blue Ridge Angel Investors Network, or BRAIN. BRAIN’s name has meaning beyond the fact that it is an acronym. Its founders were committed to reversing the brain drain that has taken place in western North Carolina as young people raised here and/or enrolled in excellent universities and colleges in the region have left after graduation because of better career prospects in entrepreneurial hotspots such as the Research Triangle and Atlanta.
Today, the BRAIN community includes over a hundred regional angel investors who are willing to take on the higher risk but potentially excellent rewards of seeding start-ups and other innovative companies. Typically, ten to 20 angels share an interest in a particular deal.
One local start-up that has received funding from BRAIN members is BUILDERadius, a thriving company that offers Web-based services that make work easier for contractors, inspectors, city planning departments and others. Half of the company’s 30 employees have come out of local colleges and have been able to stay in an area they love. BRAIN is indeed helping to reverse western North Carolina’s brain drain.
BRAIN will become an independent corporation in 2007.
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