The gap between academic research and the commerzcialization of research result can be overcome with the founding angels investment model where very early stage investors found start-up companies together with appropriate research partners to conduct research and later, alone or together with industrial partners, commercialize the results. The engagement of founding angels is compensated not monetarily but through an equity share of the new company. This business model is already being implemented in the United States with some interesting examples in the area of nanotechnology. This article analyses approach and investment strategy as well as defines a best practice process of founding angels as early stage technology investment model applying an exploratory multiple case analysis. The empirical data are based on literature research with a focus on document analysis and interviews with 35 nanotechnology experts.