California is a global hub for technology and innovation, and it is home to some of the most influential angel investors in the world. If you are a startup or an early-stage company looking for an angel investor, finding the right investor can be difficult, especially if you are new to the world of entrepreneurship.
These investors play a crucial role in nurturing startups by providing not just capital but also mentorship and networking opportunities. Here are the top 20 angel investors in California:
1. Fabrice Grinda
Fabrice Grinda is among the top 20 angel investors in California because he is a well-known individual investor and a successful entrepreneur. Grinda is the co-founder and former CEO of Aucland, Zingy, and OLX, and he frequently speaks at conferences about technology, emerging markets, and investing.
As a serial angel investor, his team searches for and evaluates startups every week, and at least two are funded within 15 days. Fabrice Grinda invests in nearly 25 sectors, with a focus on early-stage and startup companies, the majority of which are in consumer retail.
Among Grinda’s investments are:
- Airbnb
- Uber
- Alibaba Group
- Dropbox
- FanDuel
2. Alto Ventures
Altos Ventures is an active seed-stage venture capital firm in California. Since its establishment, the network has sponsored about 200 companies and is continuing to expand its portfolio. It is a venture capital firm and registered investment advisor with more than $8 billion in regulated assets under management.
Altos Ventures made up of about ten investors, focuses on firms that have great concepts and face little competition. After the entrepreneur has given the pitch deck, Altos Ventures usually controls an ownership of more than 20%.
Some of their investments include;
- PI Corporation
- Accurate Group
- Bench
3. Sequoia Capital
Sequoia Capital is a venture capital firm that is focused on seed-stage, early-stage, and growth-stage investments in private companies across technology sectors. It prioritises a startup’s growth and stability during the investment process, with the majority of its investments made during the seed stage. It is known as one of the largest and most active venture capital firms in California.
Notable investments are:
- 23andMe
- Shein
- Unity Technologies
- Loom
4. Cindy Pandos
Cindy Pandos leads Illuminate Ventures as CEO and serves as the director of Outlook Ventures. With over 30 years of experience in the tech industry, she has earned a spot among the Top 50 Women in Tech. Her recognition highlights her significant impact and expertise in the field.
As a passionate angel investor, Cindy focuses on supporting early-stage companies. She targets enterprise software startups that leverage cutting-edge technology. Her investment strategy emphasizes innovation and a forward-thinking mindset, aiming to help new businesses thrive in a competitive landscape.
5. David Lee
David Lee is a seasoned venture capitalist and angel investor with an eye for groundbreaking companies. He has made notable investments in tech giants like Square, Twitter, and Dropbox.
Beyond investing, David is a successful entrepreneur. He has launched several profitable startups, bringing firsthand experience to his investment decisions. David focuses on companies that drive innovation through cutting-edge software and creative ideas.
6. Gil Penchina
Gil Penchina is a seasoned investor with over two decades of expertise. He has backed several well-known firms, including LinkedIn, PayPal, and Wealthfront. He likes to make investments in brilliant entrepreneurs who are tackling difficult problems in new ways.
His investments include
- Fandom
- HealthTap
- Modal.
7. Aydin Senkut
Aydin Senkut is the Founder and Managing Partner of Felicis Ventures. He makes the list as one of California’s top 20 angel investors because he invests in California-based startups. Some of his investments are
- Notion
- Canva
- Shopify
8. Paul Buchheit
Paul is an American computer engineer and entrepreneur who created Gmail. He developed the original prototype of Google AdSense as part of his work on Gmail. He oversees angel investments of his own in about 40 startups and is also a group partner at Y Combinator
His notable investments are;
- Playground
- Perplexity
9. Ron Conway
Ron Conway is a venture capitalist and philanthropist. He has been described as one of Silicon Valley’s “super angels.” Conway began angel investing in the mid-1990s, with investments in Marimba Systems, Red Herring magazine, and others.
He was recognized for his success with Angel Investors LP by his inclusion in the 2006 Forbes Midas list of top dealmakers.
Among his 650 investments, here are some of them:
- Airbnb
10. Chris Dixon
Chris is an internet entrepreneur and investor. He is a general partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. As an angel investor, he has made 50 investments, some of which include:
- Soylent
- FiftyThree
- Nootrobox
11. Max Levchin
Max Levchin makes the list of the top 20 angel investors in California. He is a prominent angel investor, supporting startups in fintech and healthcare. His investments include Yelp and Evernote. Levchin’s technical expertise and entrepreneurial experience make him a valuable mentor to startups.
12. Benjamin Ling
Ben Ling is an investment partner at Khosla Ventures, focusing on mobile and Internet, marketplaces, consumer health, and data companies. He is an exceptional executive and angel investor with top operating positions at Google, YouTube, Facebook, and Badoo.
Square, Palantir, Quora, and PracticeFusion are among his personal investments. He also serves on the advisory boards of Pinterest and Pulse.
13. Marissa Mayer
Former CEO of Yahoo and early employee of Google, Marissa Mayer has transitioned into angel investing with a focus on technology startups. She has made numerous investments in companies like HiNote, Rewind (Internet software), and Players’ Lounge.
14. David Mcclure
David is an entrepreneur and angel investor from the San Francisco Bay Area who launched the business accelerator 500 Startups (now 500 Global).
After leaving PayPal, McClure became an active investor and advisor to over 15 consumer internet startups, including Jambool, a virtual goods monetization and payments platform acquired by Google in 2010, and TeachStreet, a US online education directory acquired by Amazon in 2011.
15. Dave Morin
Dave is an American entrepreneur and angel investor. He is known for founding Slow Ventures and the social network Path. He was a former Facebook manager who helped establish the Facebook Platform and Facebook Connect.
16. Chris Sacca
Chris Sacca, founder of Lowercase Capital, is known for his early investments in companies such as Twitter, Uber, and Instagram. Sacca’s skill for identifying promising startups and providing them with the resources they need to grow has earned him a reputation as a top angel investor in California.
17. Joshua Schachter
Joshua is the creator of Delicious, GeoURL, and co-creator of Memepool. Schachter is an angel investor. He is a board member at Diamond Kinetics and serves as an advisor to OwnLocal. Joshua Schachter has made numerous investments in companies like Beam, Aescape, and Arrows.
18. Keith Rabois
Keith Rabois is a technology executive and investor. He is a managing director at Khosla Ventures. He was an early-stage startup investor and executive at PayPal, LinkedIn, Slide, and Square. Rabois has been involved in investments in YouTube, Palantir Technologies, Lyft, Airbnb, Eventbrite, and Wish.com.
19. Matt Mullenweg
Matt is an angel investor, entrepreneur, and web developer. He is known for developing WordPress and founding Automattic. Mullenweg, together with Naveen Selvadurai and Audrey Kim, runs the angel investment firm Audrey Capital, which has funded nearly 30 companies since 2008.
20. Cyan Banister
Cyan is an American angel investor and entrepreneur. She is a partner in Long Journey Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund. She invested early in Uber, Niantic, Postmates, DeepMind, Carta, Thumbtack, Flexport, Affirm, and SpaceX, and co-founded Zivity, an adult-themed social networking site.
Banister was the first female investment partner at the startup capital firm Founders Fund, where she supervised seed and early-stage investments.