Roles & People
Angel Investor
An individual who invests personal capital in early-stage startups — typically at pre-seed or seed stage — in exchange for equity, often providing mentorship and connections alongside capital.
An angel investor is a high-net-worth individual who invests their own money in early-stage startups, typically at the pre-seed or seed stage before institutional venture capital firms get involved. Angels fill a critical funding gap: they take risks on unproven founders and ideas that are too early for most VC funds.
Angels vary enormously: some are former operators and executives who invest small checks ($10K–$50K) in dozens of deals annually; others are wealthy individuals writing larger checks ($100K–$500K) in fewer, more selective bets. 'Super angels' or 'micro VCs' operate at the high end, running institutionalized processes with dedicated funds.
Beyond capital, the best angels provide specific value through industry expertise, introductions to potential customers or investors, and pattern recognition from their own founder experience. The worst angels add complexity to cap tables without contributing anything substantive.
In Practice
A former Stripe engineering lead invests $50K in her friend's fintech startup at a $3M cap SAFE. She makes five introductions to potential enterprise customers and helps navigate technical interviews during the Series A process. This is angel investing at its best.
Why It Matters
Angels are often the first money into a startup and the most accessible source of capital for first-time founders without existing VC relationships. The angel round shapes the early cap table, sets the initial valuation expectation, and brings in advisors who can meaningfully impact whether the startup succeeds.