In many cities, angel investor groups are the most common source of funding for entrepreneurs. Boston is no exception.
Angels are high net-worth people that invest their own personal money in startups in exchange for an equity share of the company. Angel groups are groups of angel investors who come up with capital and invest together in deals they find promising.They help entrepreneurs access more capital than they could from individual investors.
Angel networks are also beneficial to investors because they can pool member assets to enable larger investments while combining their investment knowledge and contacts to better leverage portfolio companies.
Boston has a wide array of angel groups, and entrepreneurs should get to know them if they’re looking to connect with the top investors for early stage funding. We've rounded up 10 we think you should know.
Top Angel Investors in Boston
- Beacon Angels
- Boston Harbor Angels
- Boynton Angels
- Converge Venture Partners
- Harvard Business School Angels Alumni Association of Boston
- LaunchPad Venture Group
Founded in 2006, Beacon Angels is a local angel group that makes investments in the $100,000 to $300,000 range in small fast-growing companies. They have made eight investments in seven companies including Pixability, Crimson Hexagon and GateRocket. They meet the second Tuesday of each month at the Union Club of Boston (on Beacon Hill) to entertain and discuss presentations from companies.
Boston Harbor Angels formed in 2004 and the group has since invested in around 70 high growth, early stage companies. They focus on startups typically involved in medical devices, IT, consumer products, business products, and the internet and typically contribute between $250,000 to $1.5 million. They look for capital efficient businesses that can reach profitability with less than $5 million of equity investment and provide at least 10x return on the investment within five years. Their portfolio includes tech companies such as Pixability, PowerPlay, GateRocket and Oculis.
Boynton Angel members hold professional experience in over 15 different industries ranging from biotech and energy to manufacturing, software, telecommunications and more. Two-thirds of the members have invested as individual angels in over 25 different startups before joining Boynton Angels. Over 80 percent of the members have been founders, CEOs or presidents of companies and most have served on boards of directors.
Converge Venture Partners is a seed and early stage fund that provides capital and connections for tech entrepreneurs in security, SaaS, advertising, IT and mobile. Based in Cambridge, Converge has made a whopping 141 investments in over 71 companies. Founded in 1998, their portfolio includes well-known tech companies such as Apperian, Harmonix and Insight Squared.
Harvard Business School Angels Alumni Association of Boston
HBS Alumni Angels began in 2007 as a special interest group of the HBS Alumni Association of Northern California, but similar groups have formed around the world, making it a global alumni organization by December 2010. Internationally, HBS Alumni Angels members have invested in over 100 companies since 2007. Today, the HBS Alumni Angels organization is comprised of Harvard alumni interested in investing in high-potential early stage companies.
Founded in 2000, the Hub Angels Investment Group is one of the oldest angel groups in the Boston area. Its angel group manages a portfolio of 26 companies. This angel group does seed and early stage venture investments typically between $200k and $1M in software, finance, analytics and more. They have invested more than $25 million, with co-investors adding another $250 million to companies like DraftKings, Mobee, Localytics, Zipcar (IPO), CircleLending (acquired by Virgin Money) and Incentive Targeting (acquired by Google).
Launchpad Venture Group is a Boston-based angel investment group that provides funding to early-stage tech-centric startups involved in software, finance and biotech. They’ve made over 44 investments in 34 companies and currently have 60 active investors. Typically, Launchpad will invest between $250,000 and $1 million and work with the company to proceed to the next stage. Their portfolio includes Localytics, Pixability, InCrowd and Crowdly.
Founded in 2012 by a Harvard Business School alumni, NextGen Venture Partners is a network-driven venture capital firm that does seed and early-stage investments. Though it’s based in Washington D.C., NextGen also has offices in Boston. NextGen aims to make sure entrepreneurs get funding as quickly and easily as possible. To do so, NextGen Angels promises to provide a yes or no answer to entrepreneurs within 48 hours to get money in the bank within 30 days.
TiE Angels is an early stage investment group formed to provide entrepreneurs in the Northeast with seed capital, mentoring and support. TiE Angels typically raises between $250,000 to $600,000 for companies in sectors such as internet, software, mobile, healthtech and more. Founded in 2011 in Kendall Square in Cambridge, TiE Angels allows entrepreneurs to submit applications online on the TiE Angels Boston website and via Gust, the angel investment community platform.
Boston-based Walnut Venture Associates is a venture capital firm that specializes in seed, and early stage companies that are typically in the information technology sector. They typically invests in companies based in the New England area and invest between $250,000 and $1 million. Individuals in the group have been the founders of 20 companies and have invested in over 225 private companies including eZCater, Viral Gains and LeaseQ.
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