angel

List of Female Angel and Early-Stage Investors in Tech

From McKenzie Burnett on Medium. June 8, 2015

Researching all these individuals and their experiences, I felt like I was reading about the superheroes of the tech startup world.

I am starting a software company with a few friends. As a mixed-gender founding team, we all believe strongly in gender equity and in the collective strength brought by diverse teams. We wanted this to translate into a gender-diverse board of investors and advisors.

Why is this important? As Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, founder and CEO ofJoyus, mentions in her article promoting entrepreneurs to #ChoosePossibility, “Diverse thinking can benefit private tech boards potentially even more than public ones, and there is no reason to wait.” Everyone can benefit from a diversified investor board. Cassidy gives one option for achieving this diversity, saying, “Entrepreneurs seeking to enhance their startup’s performance can choose today to add their first qualified female board member or investor.”

When I went to research early-stage investors, however, I found it incredibly difficult to find anyone other than male investors in my startup’s space (application infrastructure/PaaS/enterprise). Determined, I found with a little digging that the information I was looking for was there — it was just scattered across the internet. Starting with female investors, I consolidated my findings into a descriptive list of experienced angels and early-stage investors with experience in all sorts of tech, so that anyone can easily use it to choose today to pursue diverse investor and advisory boards.

In addition to doing my own research, I’ve talked to top investors, industry leaders, and close friends to source content for this list. I hope it will serve as the beginning of a growing resource and discussion. Anyone can suggest additions and offer their own experiences working with gender-diverse investors in the tech industry, thus adding to the public knowledge and reputation of each of these awesome individuals.

Angel networks

 

#Angels. A group of some of the most powerful women at Twitter (or formerly at Twitter), these six angels are investing individually but still pooling their collective expertise around their investments. The individuals are included in the list below.

37 Angels. Awesome network of female angels. Invests in deals between $50k and $150k. They “also offer an unique training program to educate novice angels in the fundamentals of investing in young companies,” according to their website.

Broadway Angels. This network of around 20 angels is “an angel investment group made up of world-class investors and business executives who all happen to be women.” While they mostly invest in information technology, they are open to other areas of investment, as well. The individuals are included in the list below.

Female Investors Opportunities List. Collection of over 100 female investors, organized by Sarah Kunst. According to Sarah’s Medium article, “It’s a Google Group comprised of every female startup investor you know of and tons you don’t. They’re smart, they write checks and they are available to speak, be interviewed, mentor, judge and invite to your super private influencers dinners. They’re from all over the country, they will travel for the right opps and they provide insight and capital you’re otherwise lacking.” Email kunstsar at gmail with any opportunities and she will share them with the group.

Golden SeedsWith both an angel network and a venture capital side, this organization strongly supports female investors and is one of the largest and most well-known female angel networks in the country. With offices in New York, Boston, Silicon Valley, Southern California and Texas, Golden Seed’s angel network covers some of the biggest tech hubs in the United States.

Pipeline Fellowship. With the characteristic t-shirt slogan, “This Is What an Angel Looks Like,” Pipeline is all about changing the face of angel investing through training women to be angel investors. While they do focus on social entrepreneurship, this would be a great place for any entrepreneur to start looking to build relationships with a number of the country’s top female angel investors. Founded by Natalia Oberti Noguera.

Angels and early-stage investors

 

Aileen Lee, Founder of Cowboy Ventures, Partner at KPCB. Typically invests $100k-$1m per deal. Invests in wide variety of tech, such as enterprise, mobile, analytics, payments, e-commerce, SaaS. Has invested in Librato, Rent the Runway, DocSend, and a number of other companies. Also part ofBroadway Angels.

Alicia SyrettFounder and CEO of Pantegrion Capital. Typically invests $10k-$50k per deal. Invests in consumer internet, e-commerce, and mobile. Invested in Little Passports, Golden Seeds, HeTexted, BeautyBooked, and more. Board member of New York Angels.

Allison Thoreson BhursiAngel Investor. Typically invests $10k per deal. Invests in health tech, mobile, and education. Invested in Boostable, True Link, MasteryConnect, LocoMotive Labs, and more. Twenty years of business experience in finance, consumer products and technology. Previously worked for eBay’s Business Incubation Group with a focus on social and mobile e-commerce. Also part of Broadway Angels.

Amy BanseManaging Director and Head of Funds of Comcast Ventures. She “spent the early part of her career overseeing the development of Comcast’s cable network portfolio” according to her bio on the Broadway Angelswebsite.

Ana Díaz-HernándezInvestment Associate at Kapor Capital. Invests in seed startups w/ social impact, in markets like consumer internet, enterprise software, mobile, healthcare, education, and fintech.

Andrea ZurekFounding Partner of XG Ventures. Typically invests $25k-$100k per deal. Invests in consumer internet (mobile, video, gaming, social media, and online media sectors), but also scopes wider to include SaaS, cloud computing, and analytics. Prolific investor, has invested in Facebook, Apptimize, Keen IO, and over 50 other companies.

Angela LeeFounder of 37 AngelsExperience in education space. Assistant dean at Columbia Business School.

Anita BreartonFounder of CabinetM. Typically invests $10–25k per deal. Invests in consumer internet, digital media, IT. Invested in Crimson Hexagon, Lark, Gracious Eloise. Based in Boston.

Ann Miura KoCo-Founding Managing Partner of Floodgate. Typically invests $500k-$1M per deal. Invests in enterprise software and mobile. Invested in Lyft, Modcloth, Refinery29, TaskRabbit and others. Also a Stanford PhD/lecturer.

Annie KadavyInvestor at CRV. Invests in all kinds of tech, including SaaS, retail, design, electric vehicles, bicycles, transportation, and more. Invested in Patreon, DoorDash, ClassPass, Cratejoy, and Laurel & Wolf.

Anu DuggalFounder of Female Founders Fund. Invests in consumer internet.Invested in Manicube, Dating Ring, Loverly, Maven, Minibar, and F Cubed. Female Founders Fund invests seed capital and mentorship in women entrepreneurs.

April UnderwoodFounding Partner of #Angels. Invests in cleantech, healthcare, enterprise, and more. Invested in Glassbreakers, Hale Health, and Cue Health. A ton of experience with product development from her time as Director of Product at Twitter.

Beth Ellyn McClendonAngel Investor. Typically invests $100k–$200k per deal. Invests in a wide variety of tech, including hardware. Invested in Leap Motion, Shyp, AngelList, Lightbox, and others.

Caryn EffronManaging Director of Ackman-Ziff. 20 years of experience in commercial real estate finance, founded GoGirl Finance. Member of Pipeline Fellowship. Focus on education, real estate, and finance.

Caterina FakeFounder Partner of Founder Collective, Chairman of Etsy.Invests in a wide variety of tech. Previous co-founder of Flickr and Hunch, Caterina currently serves as both an investor and chairman of Etsy. Also has invested in Chloe + Isabel, Typekit, Wavii (acquired by Google), and Zipongo.

Chloe SladdenFounding Partner of #Angels. Invests in cleantech, mobile, health, digital media and analytics. Invested in Cleanly, Other Machine Company, Moxxly, and Blockchain Capital. Brings experience in digital media as the former Vice President, North American Media at Twitter.

Christina BechholdInvestor at Samsung Open Innovation Center. Also co-founded Empire Angels. Invests in e-commerce, social media, fintech, IoT, consumer internet, and more. Invested in Hullabalu, weeSpring, StatSocial, Human Demand, ZoomCar India, MyDROBE, and The Infatuation.

Christina BrodbeckFounding Team Member of YouTube. Typically invests $15k–$25k per deal. Invests on consumer tech, with a skillset/focus on UI/design. Invested in Storify, Fobo, inDinero, and others.

Christine HerronInvestor at Intel Capital. Typically invests $5k-$15m per deal. Invests in consumer tech. Invested in Goldbelly, Yummly, FundersClub, and others. Also serves as a Board Advisor to StartX and a Venture Advisor at 500 Startups.

Cindy PadnosFounder and Managing Partner of Illuminate Ventures.Typically invests $100k-$500k per deal. Invests in all sorts of tech, including cloud computing, mobile, enterprise, SaaS, sales automation, marketing, and more. Invested in Influitive, Sense, yozio, Unshackled, Coupang, Allocadia, BrightEdge Technologies, Red Aril, and more.

Claudia IannazzoAngel Investor. Invests in mobile, social media, digital media, advertising, and more.

Cyan BanisterAngel Investor. Typically invests $50k-$1m per deal. Invests in consumer internet, enterprise, Bitcoin, SaaS. Invested in Uber, Rapportive, Zappos, and many more. As someone commented on AngelList, getting early/lead investment is a sign “that many other angels watch.” Find Cyan on Twitter.

Eileen BurbidgeFounder Partner at Passion Capital. Typically invests $250k per deal. Invests in mobile, B2B, analytics, and more. Invested in Mattermark, Maven, DueDil and others. Product and business development experience at Apple, Skype, Sun. Based out of London, so she has strong contacts in both the U.S. and the U.K./Europe. Invests as an angel and as a partner at Passion Capital.

Ellen LevyManaging Director of Silicon Valley Connect. Recently referred to as the most connected woman in Silicon Valley. Invests in all sorts of tech, ranging from application platforms to hardware to education. Extensive experience working in senior leadership for LinkedIn and Apple, as well as with Stanford University. Invested in RelateIQ and Piazza, among others. Also part of Broadway Angels.

Ellie WheelerInvestor at Greycroft Ventures. Invests in all sorts of tech, including enterprise software, B2B, e-commerce, automotive, and social ventures. Invested in Xobni, Plain Vanilla Games, Daily Secret, Mister Spex, NuORDER, Windeln.de, BaubleBar, and Fisoc.

Emily MeltonPartner at DFJ. Invests in mobile, cleantech, healthcare, and enterprise software. Invested in Pulse and Other Machine Company. Advisor to Poshmark. Formerly a partner at DFJ. Also part of Broadway Angels.

Heidi RoizenOperating Partner at DFJ. Invests in consumer internet, social media, digital media, and mobile. Invested in Draper University, Vango, and advised Socialize. As someone mentioned on AngelList, “Heidi is a legend in Silicon Valley (just go look up the HBR case study on her).”

Irena GoldenbergAngel Investor. Invests in e-commerce, games, social media, mobile, payments. Investor in Privalia, Spartoo, Photobox, and Glassesdirect.

Jalak JobanputraFounder/Managing Partner of FuturePerfect Ventures.Typically invests $50k-$500k per deal. Invests in enterprise software, mobile, analytics. Investor in Ticketfly, Thumbplay, Outside.In, and others. Also an advisor for L’Oreal and an investor at Intel Capital.

Jana MesserschmidtFounding Partner of #Angels. Invests in developer APIs, Android, mobile, social media, and more. Currently Vice President of Global Business Development & Platform at Twitter.

Jennifer CarolanFounder of Reach Capital (NewSchools Venture Fund).Typically invests $50k per deal. Invests heavily in education, with a broad depth of experience in the education space. Invested in NoRedink, Motion Math, Engrade, MasteryConnect, CodeHS, and more. Also part of Broadway Angels.

Jennifer LumFounder of AdelphicTypically invests $10k-$25k per deal. Invests in all kinds of tech, including backend/cloud services. Invested in Crashlytics, Kinvey, and TribeHR. Based out of Toronto/Boston.

Jennifer Scott FonstadFounder of Broadway Angels, Co-Founder of Aspect Ventures. Typically invests $250k-$1m per deal. Invests in mobile applications, consumer and enterprise application services, and energy management. Invested in Athenahealth, Achex, NetZero, and more. Currently managing director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

Jenny FieldingAngel Investor. Typically invests $20k per deal. Invests in wearables, mobile, IoT, consumer tech. Invested in Techstars, Kinetic, Bitfinder, and others.

Jenny LefcourtFounder of WeddingChannel and Bella PicturesTypically invests $500k-$1m per deal. Invests in marketplaces, mobile & enterprise. Invested in Main Street Hub, MomentFeed, P. Relan YouWeb Incubator, and Shuddle.

Jessica LivingstonFounder of Y-Combinator. Probably one of the most influential women in the startup/investor world, AngelList only lists one investment for Jessica — Wevorce. Her experience at Y-Combinator speaks for the rest.

Jessica PeltzInvestor at kbs+ Ventures. Typically invests $100k per deal. Invests in mobile, location-based services, retail, big data, analytics, and more. Invested in Adsnative, wedgies, Mezzobit, Roost, Indicative, and MONTAJ.

Jessica VerrilliFounding Partner of #Angels. Invests in mobile, analytics, digital media, enterprise software, social commerce, SaaS, and more. Invested in ZenPayroll, Getable, and Philz Coffee. Formerly Director of Corporate Development & Strategy at Twitter, now a partner at Google Ventures.

Jill PreotleAngel Investor. Typically invests $50k-$100k per deal. Invests in all sorts of tech, including mobile, marketplaces, consumer goods, fashion, and e-commerce. Invested in TaskRabbit, ezCater, Zipcar, Playrific, Rifiniti, Crimson Hexagon, and RallyPoint.

Joanna Drake EarlAngel Investor. Invests in mobile, social media, supply chain management, and more. Invested in Feed Media, Rocksbox, SupportPay, Other Machine Company (OMC), and more. Founded Current TV and sold to Al Jazeera. Immense experience in intersection of technology, consumer, media and television sectors. Also part of Broadway Angels.

Joanne WilsonAngel Investor. Typically invests $10k-$100k per deal. Invests in all sorts of tech, including e-commerce, online retail, big data, analytics, and more. Invested in Blue Bottle Coffee, LE TOTE, EDITD, Hullabalu, and over 50 more companies.

Joyce ChungManaging Director at Garage Technology Ventures. Typically invests $100k-$1m per deal. Invests in cleantech, IT and internet startups. Invested in SimplyHired, WhiteHat Security, and Zilliant.

Julia PopowitzAngel Investor. Typically invests $25k–$50k per deal. Began her career after graduating from Harvard Law School at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich Rosati, and then moved on to Facebook in 2006 as the second attorney in the legal department. Has a wide breadth of investments including focus areas in e-commerce, mobile, digital media, SaaS, big data, finance, and more. Invested in Uber, Stripe, Ali Baba, Palantir, Survey Monkey, Locu, Spreecast, ZenPayroll, and more. Also part of Broadway Angels.

Julie BlancInvestor at Two Sigma Ventures. Invests in consumer internet, enterprise software, SaaS, robotics, and more. Invested in Two Sigma Ventures and Pluralsight.

Julie ChinAngel Investor. Typically invests $5k-$25k. Invests in mobile and other markets. Invested in Heroku, RidePal, and 280 North.

Katherine Barr, General Partner at Mohr Davidow Ventures. Invests in a lot of different types of tech, including IoT, healthtech, and big data/analytics. Invested in Ticketfly, Visible Measures, and Retention Science. Advisor for 500 Startups.

Katie Jacobs StantonFounding Partner of #Angels. Invests in cleantech, health care, digital media, social media, analytics and more. Invested in Lowercase Capital, Change.org, Shape Security, and iAutos (China). Currently Vice President of Global Media at Twitter.

Katie RaeInvestor at Techstars. Typically invests $10k-$50k per deal. Invests in internet tech. Invested in peerTransfer, Spindle, and Bison. As someone on AngelList mentioned, “[Katie] finds a way to be on the entrepreneur’s side and build them up — for real, and for good — rather than simply point out problems. Even if she’s giving you tough love, you know she’s in your corner helping you get out there to go another round.”

Kay KoplovitzFounder of Boldcap Ventures, Springboard, and USA Network. A serious veteran in the media/television world, Kay now focuses on helping women-led companies in technology and life sciences. Also founded NY Fashion Tech Lab (NYFT Lab).

Kelly HoeyAngel Investor, Columnist in Inc.com. Invests in various tech sectors with a heavy focus on mobile. Investoed in Levo, Hullabalu, SQL Vision, flowthings.io, Smigin and CloudPeeps. Prior investments include AppGuppy (acquired by Flow) and Philantech (acquired by Altum). Sits on the boards of two startup accelerators, JuiceLabs (Cairo) and Tampa Bay WaVE. Also the Chief Technology Ambassador for the YWCA of NYC’s Geek Girls Club.

Kelly Quann BianucciManaging Principal at Discover Capital LLC. Typically invests $25k per deal. Invests in aerospace, consumer internet, enterprise software, healthcare, and more. Investor in TrueFacet, TomboyX, Storyvine, Pharmajet, and Investor’s Circle. Based in Denver.

Kim PoleseFounder of Marimba. Invests in all sorts of tech, including hardware, enterprise software, mobile, and healthcare. Invested in TrustedID and Vonage. Also part of Broadway Angels.

Kirsten GreenFounder of Forerunner Ventures. Typically invests $500k per deal. Forerunner Ventures focuses on “technology enabled consumer companies.” Invested in Bonobos, Warby Parker, Dollar Shave Club and Birchbox, among others.

Kristina MontagueManaging Partner at TheJumpFund. Invests in clean tech, mobile, enterprise software, and more. Invested in Feetz, eDivv, Rimidi, Rooibee Red Tea Company, and SuperFanU.

Lara DruyanAngel Investor. Typically invests $50k per deal. Invests in application platforms, e-commerce, mobile, big data, and other software. Invested in Quixey, Powerset, and Index. Formerly General Partner at Allegis Capital.

Lauren FlanaganFounder of BELLE Capital USA, Phenomenelle Angels Fund.Typically invests $25k-$500k per deal. Invests in SaaS, big data, e-commerce, mobile, biotech, wearable tech. Invested in Eragen Biosciences, Stemina Biomarker Discovery, Finomel, and more.

Laurie YolerSVP Business Development and President of Qualcomm Labs.Typically invests $50k-$100k per deal. Invests in digital media and consumer goods. Invested in Tesla, Packet Design, and others. Founder of GrowthPoint Technology Partners. Also part of Broadway Angels.

Leslie BlodgettCEO of Bare Escentuals. Transformed Bare Escentuals from a small Bay Area store to a cosmetic empire, taking the company public in 2006 and seeing it through a $1.8 billion acquisition by Shiseido, the Japan-based leading cosmetics company. Leader in the cosmetic/beauty industry, servces on the board of Cosmetic Executive Women (CEW). Also part ofBroadway Angels.

Linda HollidayFounder and CEO of Citia. Typically invests $25k–$100k per deal. Invests in digital media. Invested in Small Demons, Comixology, and SetJam.

Lorine PendletonAngel Investor. A Pipeline Fellows alumna, Lorine invests in mobile, legal tech, clean tech, consumer internet, enterprise software and more. Invested in Hire an Esquire, Traklight, and Cisse Trading Co.

Magdalena YesilAngel Investor. Invests in SaaS, cloud computing, security, and more. Invested in Salesforce.com, 3Ware, Claria, Securify, and Valicert.

Maha IbrahimGeneral Partner at Canaan Partners. Typically invests $2m-$5m per round as a partner at Canaan. Invests in data centers, internet infrastructure, networking, digital media, video games and more. Invested in Kabam, Mobilitec, Virsto Software, 3Crowd Technologies, SenSage, eBillMe, Pickspal, and Inhale Digital. Also part of Broadway Angels.

Mar HershensonFounder of Tocata Mobile, Sabio Labs, & Barcelona Design. Invests in consumer internet, enterprise software, mobile, and healthcare. Invested in Qwiki, Heap, Washio, True & Co, Lumoid, DoorDash, Wevorce, and Sensor Tower.

Marissa CampiseVice President at Venrock. Typically invests $250k in a seed round deal. Invests in mobile and IoT. Invested in Klout and Netservice. Also a Senior Associate at Greycroft Partners.

Mary Jane ElmoreAngel Investor. Invests in specialty foods, e-commerce, digital media, advertising, and more. Invested in Deal Decor and Foodydirect. Former General Partner of and current advisor to Institutional Venture Partners (IVP). Also part of Broadway Angels.

Meagan MarksAngel Investor. Typically invests $15k-$30k. Invests in mobile, social media, and more. Based in London.

Megan QuinnPartner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers. Invests in consumer internet & mobile. Invested in Square, Uber, Remind, Slack, Codecademy, Nextdoor, Quirky,Shyp, Level Money, and Tradesy. Formerly led product at Square and Google.

Miriam RiveraCo-founder of ULU Ventures. Typically invests $25k-$100k per deal. Invests in enterprise software, IT. Invested in Palantir, GCommerce, Huddler, Jubon, Matchbin, and more. Also part of Stanford Angels.

Natala MenezesAngel Investor. Typically invests up to $50k per deal. Formally worked at Google, Amazon, and Microsoft and has experience with product design, UX and go-to-market decisions. Invested in Shift and Belle Clementine.

Nisa Amoils, Angel Investor. Typically invests $10k-$100k. Invests in consumer internet/goods, beauty, health and wellness, food and beverages, nutraceutical/nutrition. Member of NY Angels and 37 Angels, involved with Wharton Entrepreneurs.

Patricia NakachePartner at Trinity Ventures. Interested in the “impact of mobile and social media on the next generation of Internet services.” Invested in Eat Club, Kixeye, Lucky Group, Owler, RelayRides, Ruby Ribbon, and ThredUp. Also part of Broadway Angels.

Paula BrooksAngel Investor. “Paula was an active leader during the formative years of the software industry. She was first an executive at various enterprise infrastructure technology companies, then an entrepreneur and later an angel investor and active director of several more including WebMethods, Descartes Systems Group and Systems Center.” Also active politically, having served as a White House Fellows Commissioner under President George W. Bush. -Broadway Angels bio

Sapna ShahFounder of Retail Eye Partners & Mind the Chap. Invests in retail, digital media, e-commerce, fashion, consumer internet, fashion tech, and wearables. Invested in BeautyBooked, Iterate Studio, Wine for the World, Section 101.

Renata QuintiniInvestor at Felicis Ventures. Invests in all kinds of tech, including education, healthcare, social media, SaaS, and more. Invested in Baby.com.br, Twice, Cambrian Genomics, and Kiwi Crate.

Sarah GuoInvestor at Greylock Partners. Typically invests $100k-$25m per deal. Invests in cloud infrastructure and enterprise software. Invested in Dropbox, Camio, Skyhigh Networks, and Avi Networks.

Sarah KunstInvestor at Mohr Davidow Ventures. Invests in drones, farming tech, retail tech, mobile, marketplaces, finance and consumer internet. Invested in Zuckerberg Media. Also writes for The Daily Beast and Entrepreneur.com. According to someone on AngelList, Sarah brings “[t]remendous insight into all things user growth and acquisition, tech, finance, venture. Honest, truthful, and possesses a lightning-quick wit.”

Sarah TavelProduct at Pinterest. Typically invests $10k per deal. Invests in mobile, e-commerce, social media, retail, and mobile advertising. Invested in Convertro, The Fridge, Pinterest, and more.

Shana FisherManaging Partner of High Line Venture Partners. Invests in all kinds of tech — B2B, enterprise, consumer, mobile, SaaS, cloud computing, etc. Invested in Knewton, Pinterest, Tilt, Onename, Makerbot, and more.

Shanna TellermanPartner at Google Ventures. Invests in consumer internet, enterprise software, and mobile. Invested in LE TOTE, Shelf.com, and Wanderable. Also founded Sim Ops Studios, which was acquired by Autodesk.

Sharon VosmekCEO of AstiaInvests in cleantech, consumer internet, mobile, and enterprise software. Invested in Poshly, nVision Medical, Sandstone Diagnostics, RenovoRx, FINsix, EcoTensil, Prima-Temp.

Sharon WeinbarPartner at ScaleVP. Invests in mobile and internet companies. Led ScaleVP’s investments in Teros (acquired by Citrix), MerchantCircle (acquired by Reply.com) and Glu Mobile (IPO). Extensive experience working at Adobe Systems. Serves on the board of directors for Microsoft’s Venture Advisory Committee. Also part of Broadway Angels.

Sherry CoutuAngel Investor. Typically invests $50k-$750k per deal. Invests in consumer internet, B2B, cleantech, and more. Invested in Bonobos, Zoopla, Maven, Covester, and others. Advisor to LinkedIn. Located in Cambridge, U.K.

Sheryl SchultzAngel Investor. Typically invests $10k-$25k per deal. Invests in telecommunications, e-commerce, social media, edutainment. Invested in Fab.com, ViralGains, Crowdly, and more. Focuses on marketing/customer advice. Located in Boston/Maine.

Shruti GhandiManaging Partner at Array Ventures. Typically invests $1m-$3m per deal. Invests in all kinds of tech, including mobile, e-commerce, big data, and enterprise software. Invested in True Ventures, Engrade, LearnSprout, Agnitus, and Array Ventures. Previously an investor with True Ventures and Samsung Ventures. Founded Penseev.

Shuly GaliliCo-founder of UpWest LabsTypically invests $25k-$300k. Invests in all kinds of tech, including IoT, mobile, cybersecurity, big data, analytics, and data security. Invested in Honeybook, SentinelOne, Keywee, and more.

Sonja Hoel PerkinsFounder of Broadway Angels. Invests “broadly in all stages and areas of information technology throughout her career,” according to her bio on the Broadway Angels website. Her AngelList says she’s looking for investments in mobile/IT in consumer, enterprise and infrastructure. Invested in Flurry, 3VR, Ditto, HealthTap, Kitchit, Mee Genius, Minted.com, nCircle, Prism Skylabs, Sky Channel, Stravus, and UrbanSitter. Currently managing director at Menlo Ventures.

Stephanie Hanbury-BrownAngel Investor. Typically invests $100k-$250k per deal. Invests in life sciences, SaaS, consumer goods. Invested in eJamming, Carnegie Speech, Saladax Biomedical, HarQen. Located in NYC.

Susan McPhersonFounder and CEO of McPherson Strategies. Typically invests $10k-$25k per deal. Invests in social media, digital media, consumer internet, hardware, fashion, fitness and more, with a focus on female founders. Invested in The Muse, Loverly, Zady, Theli.st, Reserve, GoldBean.

Sutian DongInvestor at FirstMark Capital. Invests in all sorts of tech, including social media, social fundraising, edutech, retail tech, mobile, enterprise, data security and more. Invested in Pinterest, SecondMarket. Based in NYC.

Theresia GouwFounder and General Partner of Aspect Ventures. Invests in consumer, social commerce, and security in the “new mobility space.” While a partner at Accel, Theresia led the series A or seed rounds for Birchbox, HotelTonight, LearnVest, Trulia, and Joyus. Also part of Broadway Angels.

Vijaya GaddeFounding Partner of #Angels. Currently General Counsel and Secretary at Twitter. Immense experience working with IPOs, M&As, and other legalities of massive tech companies from her time with Twitter and before that her 10 years of experience as an attorney with Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C.

Victoria SongFounder of So She Did. Typically invests $2m per deal. Invests in mobile, enterprise, energy management, consumer internet and more. Invested in Crashlytics, Rothenberg Ventures, Tracelytics, and SHADOW. Former venture capitalist at Flybridge Capital.

Virginia M. TurezynAngel Investor. Typically invests $25k–$50k per deal. Invests in all kinds of tech — enterprise software, SaaS, mobile. Invested in Retailigence, Cloud Cliques, unseat.me, Kaazing, and Jambok.

Wayee ChuCo-Founder of the NewSchools Seed Fund. Typically invests $25k-$50k per deal. Invests heavily in education/edutech, but also in SaaS, social news, and social media. Invested in Knotch, Handle, Tugboat Yards, True Link, Prompt.ly, LocoMotive Labs, CodeHS, Tynker, and more. Also part ofBroadway Angels.

Online resources

Mackenzie is the CEO of Distributed Systems, Inc., a startup building managed infrastructure for service-oriented applications. Read more about her motivations for writing this article here. She’s figuring out most of this as she goes along, so come along for the journey by recommending this article to others and/or writing a response. Did she miss anyone or anything? Reach out, and she’ll add to this list.

Thanks to Maran Nelson, Anastasia Marchenkova, Cyan Banister, Christina Cacioppo, Jeff Hilnbrand, Josh Taylor and Sukhinder Singh Cassidy for suggesting edits and/or additions to this resource list.

Denver vs. Silicon Valley: Where we’re better and where we need to grow

 

When I travel outside the Mile High City, I’m often asked what makes Denver so attractive for startups. While our tech community and the companies it’s home to are gaining traction by the month, the benefits of launching a startup in Denver aren’t necessarily as obvious as those associated with major tech destinations like the Valley and, more recently, New York.

 

But when we were preparing to launch Convercent into the governance, risk, and compliance market, there was never any doubt where we should set up shop. In fact, I recently wrote in the Wall Street Journal about some of the key reasons why Denver-Boulder is in an exciting time for tech acceleration (and our mayor did, too). Indeed, the tech hub here is actually piping with opportunity — it’s by no coincidence that $280M in funding came through the city alone last year. The perks you’d find in the Valley like daily farm-to-table meals and ping-pong tournaments aren’t the standard, but there are other important and significant advantages to cultivating a tech company here, all unique to our own local culture.

But just like most relatively new, fast-growing developments in the tech sector, we still need to iron out some kinks and improve upon certain areas before Denver truly recognizes its full potential. There are distinct areas where Denver’s tech innovation excels, but also places where we still need to grow to take our own tech scene to the next level.

What we do best

Denver has an ideal work-life balance. The city isn’t just home to slew of high-growth tech startups, it’s also home to very successful awesome food start ups as well as some of the best breweries in the US. The Rocky Mountains are in our backyard for people who love their skis and snowboards in the winter and mountain bikes and hiking boots the rest of the year. In fact, it’s this balance that often attracts top talent from New York and the Valley to Denver — people get burned out and are drawn to Denver’s high quality-of-life. The outdoors are a key part of Denver’s overall culture and everyone makes a point to take pride in these defining factors and enjoy what our city has to offer.

Within our working world, the quality of life is arguably just as high. The tech community in Denver works to foster a cohesive, supportive environment where people have unique access to the resources they need to scale: The Mayor, Erik Mitisek’s band of superstars at the Colorado Technology Association and local incubators like Galvanize all actively find ways to help startups excel and forge a close-knit network. In fact, the city of Denver and Mayor Michael B. Hancock recently helped Convercent open the doors to its new office in Denver’s Golden Triangle district, a vibrant, up and coming neighborhood where it seems a new startup sets up just about every other week.

Even the tech companies themselves work to support each other’s growth, which is a dramatic contrast to the competition you find in other tech hubs where everyone’s concerned about who’s launching what first. Our office is also a communal, shared space for local artists, entrepreneurs, and other startups to come use at no cost, as well as a venue for local networking and tech events. Even as Denver’s tech hub becomes more dense, this supportive nature hasn’t wavered. In fact, the recent and steady successes of the Denver/Boulder region’s companies seem to have only fueled our drive to help each other excel.

This close-knit community also helps give way to focused, thriving corporate cultures. In Silicon Valley, founders and CEOs are constantly concerned with other companies poaching their employees. Being outside of this noisy ecosystem, Denver is less susceptible to this company-hopping routine and, as result, employees are overall more invested in their work, driving greater company morale and productivity. Companies are able to stay focused on their visions and goals without the distractions of passing tech trends and launches.

Where There’s Room to Grow

I’d like to see Denver creating a few juggernauts on the level of Salesforce or Google. We need a few of these behemoth tech companies to help anchor Denver as major hub for technology, and help bring in the top talent and resources needed to propel the smaller surrounding companies forward.

The success of TeleTech, an innovator of customer-experience technolog; Ping Identity’s recent $44 million round; and Rally Software’s recent initial public offering (now up 100 percent) are all steps in the right direction. But we need more.

We need Sympoz, Datalogix, Sendgrid, Newsgator, Full Contact, and Convercent to continue along the path they’re on until they become nationally-recognized businesses that are leading their respective markets. Lastly, we need Governor Hickenlooper and Tom Clark, the CEO of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation, to continue their great work bringing companies like Arrow Electronics to Colorado and land a few other giant, anchor companies for Denver’s tech community to reach new levels of success.

Another development that would help significantly grow our local entrepreneurial community is a bigger market for angel capital. The issue isn’t that money for seed startups is hard to come by — there’s plenty of money if the opportunity is right. The issue is that investors only want to bet on proven technology executives with ample experience in successfully scaling companies.

These “fundable” teams aren’t as prevalent in a newly developed tech scene, and while our early stage companies are often piping with new and innovative ideas, a certain track record is required to attract capital. Incubators like TechStars are helping to usher in more qualified seed startups, but what will really move the needle is recruiting respected founders into Colorado, inspiring our own executives to start their own businesses, and encouraging Denver’s proven entrepreneurs to continue launching new companies rather than simply enjoying Colorado after some initial success.

Lastly, part of what’s hurts Denver’s tech community most is its own reputation. The Rocky Mountain West is known for skiing, hiking, turning Rocky Mountain spring water into Coors beer, and creating the cable industry. Outside Colorado, there’s an underlying sense that a technology company springing out of this unassuming area can’t possibly be ahead of the curve. A shift in this kind of thinking should come organically as Denver’s tech market continues to gain traction, but until it gains more national recognition, some extra effort goes into proving that your company has what it takes.

Despite a few areas to improve upon, I wouldn’t trade Denver’s high quality of the life, supportive tech network and strong company cultures for the advantages that come along with real estate in one of the coastal the tech hubs. With Colorado now claiming four of the top ten most popular cities for startups, I have ambitious hopes and dreams for how the region’s tech community will continue to take shape.

Patrick Quinlan is the chief executive of Denver-based Convercent, an enterprise cloud software company that raised a $10.2M series A in January (check out VentureBeat’s profile of its dynamic office space). He’s been leading Denver tech companies for decades.

Read more at http://venturebeat.com/2013/10/15/denver-vs-silicon-valley/#5JvthLWKkSxi3qMj.99