In the very early stage, there are three forms of funding. The first is usually from the entrepreneur, who puts in cash, maximizes his credit cards, mortgages his house, and sells his kids for medical experiments. That's the first money in. That's skin in the game.
Second are, of course, the three Fs: friends, family, and fools. These people are usually relatives or acquaintances, and they put in a little bit of cash, usually less than $100,000.
Once you get past that, you get into angel investing. Angels are, according to the various securities commissions within the provinces, sophisticated high-net-worth individuals who can assume the kinds of risks that they take. All members of an NAO, for instance, and all members of angel groups have formally signed off on the fact that they are indeed accredited, sophisticated investors. That's when the angels begin to play.
There are those three early stages. Then it may pass on, depending on the size of the investment, to venture capital. One very quick trend that's happening is that angels, because they're investing together, are now getting into VC rounds, so it's not uncommon to see $3 million, $4 million, or $11 million rounds just in angels alone.