Super angel explained
Super angel (or "super-angel") was a term used in the early 2010s to describe venture capital investors who had once been angel investors and subsequently raised small venture capital funds.[1]
Super angels share some characteristics of both angel investors and venture capitalists. According to Fast Company, super angels "raise funds like venture capitalists but invest early like angels and in sums between the two, on average from $250,000 to $500,000."[2] Unlike traditional angel investors, they are typically professionals for whom investing is their primary occupation.[3]
Features
Some common features of super angels include:
- Creating a professionally managed investment fund[1]
- Serial investing (investing in numerous startup companies)
- Investing at a seed round in startup companies
- Funding rounds in the (approximate) range of $50,000 to several million dollars, larger than typical "friends and family" rounds but smaller than most venture rounds
- Taking an active role in portfolio companies[4]
- Raising money from general partners and other principals, without passive investors in the fund
- Fund principals who are experienced entrepreneurs
- Avoid joining boards as a long-term investor.
- Close investments in several weeks, considerably faster than venture funds.[2]
List of investors described as super angels
Name of fund | Key people | Selected portfolio companies |
---|
Canvas Ventures[5] | Rebecca Lynn,[6] Paul Hsaio | LendingClub |
500 Startups[7] | Dave McClure | |
Felicis Ventures[8] | Aydin Senkut | Meraki, Mint.com |
Floodgate Fund[9] | Mike Maples Jr., Ann Miura-Ko | Chegg, Dasient, Digg, Twitter |
Founder Collective[10] | Caterina Fake, Chris Dixon, David Frankel, Eric Paley, Micah Rosenbloom | Uber, Coupang, Trade Desk, PillPack, SeatGeek |
Founders Fund[11] | Peter Thiel, Sean Parker, Ken Howery, Luke Nosek | Gowalla, Causes, Facebook, Quantcast, SpaceX, Spotify |
Harrison Metal [12] | Michael Dearing | AdMob, Lumosity, Aardvark |
Lerer Hippeau Ventures[13] | Kenneth Lerer, Ben Lerer | |
Lowercase Capital[14] | Chris Sacca | Twitter, bit.ly, Uber |
SoftTech VC | Jeff Clavier[15] | |
SV Angel[16] | Ron Conway, David Lee, Mike Ghaffary, Brian Pokorny (former) | Google, Ask Jeeves, Facebook, BuzzFeed, PayPal |
Thrive Capital[17] | Joshua Kushner | Vostu | |
Notes and References
- News: Business Insider. Who Are The Super Angels? A Comprehensive Guide. Nick. Saint. October 4, 2010.
- News: Fast Company. How "Super Angel" Investors Are Reinventing the Startup Economy. Farhad Manjoo. February 2011.
- News: Wall Street Journal. 'Super Angels' Alight. Pui-Wing Tam and Spencer E. Ante. August 16, 2010.
- News: GigaOM. Fred Wilson on AngelGate and Where the Web Is Going. https://web.archive.org/web/20101011205358/http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/oct2010/tc2010107_140972.htm. dead. October 11, 2010. Mathew. Ingram. October 7, 2010.
- Web site: Szkutak . Rebecca . Canvas Ventures Raises $350 Million To Help Bring Intentionality Back To Early-Stage Investing . 2022-06-14 . Forbes . en.
- News: Gage . Deborah . 2015-03-02 . How a Female Partner Rose to the Top of Canvas Venture Fund . en-US . Wall Street Journal . 2022-06-14 . 0099-9660.
- News: Business Insider. Dave McClure. Nick. Saint. October 4, 2010.
- News: Business Insider. Felicis Ventures. Nick. Saint. October 4, 2010.
- News: Business Insider. Floodgate. Nick. Saint. October 4, 2010.
- News: Business Insider. Founder Collective. Nick. Saint. October 4, 2010.
- News: Business Week. VCs Aim to Out-Angel the Angels. https://web.archive.org/web/20070406203332/http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2007/tc20070402_747117.htm?dealbook. dead. April 6, 2007. April 2, 2007. Aaron. Ricadela.
- Web site: Loizos . Connie . 2018-03-27 . "Time to keep going" says Harrison Metal, closing on a new, $68 million fund . 2022-11-05 . TechCrunch . en-US.
- News: Business Insider. Lerer Ventures. Nick. Saint. October 4, 2010.
- News: Business Insider. Lowercase Capital. Nick. Saint. October 4, 2010.
- News: Fast Company. Super Angels, Lean VCs, Proto-Incubators, Whatever.. Fred. Destin. August 6, 2010.
- News: Wall Street Journal. Ron Conway's Big Deals: How He Found Google And Facebook. October 18, 2010. Tomio Geron.
- News: Business Insider. Thrive Capital. Nick. Saint. October 4, 2010.