Angels invest in a mix of startups from different industries

Angel investors typically fund a startup at an earlier stage than venture capitalists

Angel investors and venture capitalists both invest in startups, but they differ in a few key ways. Angel investors typically invest earlier and in a smaller amount.

Angel investors often come together as a syndicate

Startups raise money in different rounds from investors that include their friends and family, angels, and venture capital funds. These types of investors serve different purposes.

Platforms like AngelList help angel investors find startups to fund

Angel investors leverage their high net worths to fund seed-stage startups. While they could see high returns, investing in such an early company is a risk.

Angel investors often receive significant equity because of the risk they take

Angel investors fund startups at an early stage, at which time a company’s success is less assured. In exchange, they often ask for a significant equity stake.

Angel investors funded startups with nearly $28B in 2024

Statistics about the angel investing market show that billions are spent funding early-stage startups each year. Companies with more angel interest had higher success rates.

The term ‘angel investor’ is thought to have originated with Broadway plays

The first so-called angel investors funded theatrical productions. Now, angels invest in startups at an early stage, hoping their investment will pay off in the future.

A successful angel investor can multiply their investment by 3 to 10 times

Angel investor Naval Ravikant explains what it takes to be successful in his field, from building an authentic brand to developing the judgment to choose which startups to back.

People often invest in alternative investments to diversify their portfolios

Because alternatives often have little correlation with traditional investments like stocks and bonds, adding them to a traditional portfolio can reduce its overall risk exposure.

Early-stage investors say ‘no’ to the vast majority of funding pitches

Angel investor Alicia Syrett details the top reasons investors turn down entrepreneurs. For example, the entrepreneur didn’t do their homework by, for instance, not researching the investor.

Unlike small businesses, startups aim to disrupt entire industries

They also differ from small businesses in that startups have a higher level of risk, may take on outside funding from venture capital firms to boost growth, and more.

7 angel investors funded Google in its early days

Entrepreneur Shaan Puri shares how seven strangers acted as Google’s earliest angel investors. The first gave Google $100K without even putting his equity agreement in writing. The investors on “Shark Tank” use their personal funds to support startups, but they’re often more predatory about terms than typical angels.

Venture capital is a form of funding provided to early-stage companies with high growth potential, typically in exchange for an equity (or ownership) stake

Cyan Banister, once homeless, was an angel investor in Uber, SpaceX, and DeepMind

Cyan Banister has invested in more than 100 companies, building a reputation in the angel-investing world for her unorthodox approach.

71% of equity investments in Q1 2025 went to AI companies

That's up from just 14% in 2020, according to JPMorgan, which recently conducted an analysis of venture capital investment trends in the US.

Private equity is viewed as an alternative investment

These different types of private equity include venture capital, growth equity, and buyouts.

Startup accelerators that include more training activities, such as pitch competitions, tend to have better long-term success rates

That's according to a new study from Wharton. Y-Combinator, perhaps the most famous startup accelerator, currently has 16 alumni companies trading on the public market. But not every entrepreneur who joins a startup accelerator makes it big.

SPACs, explained

Special purpose acquisition companies make it easy for mature unicorns (companies valued at over $1B) to receive growth capital by going public. This process effectively skips the work of a traditional initial public offering, and its time-intensive investor negotiations. Typically, a well-known investor with expertise in a certain industry sponsors a SPAC with the intent to acquire a startup. Learn how it works and the risks involved here.

Apple’s third cofounder was its angel investor

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak are well-known for cofounding Apple, but the company had a third founder who acted as an angel investor: Mike Markkula, who invested $250K in 1977.

Many investment bankers work on IPOs

When a company undertakes an IPO, investment banks often buy many of the organization’s shares directly from the company, in order to sell the shares on the stock market. The bank stands to profit after marking up the shares.

Active investors try to 'beat' the stock market's performance

There are two primary types of investment strategies that professional investors use: active investing and passive investing. While active investors try to "beat" the stock market's performance, passive investors have a bit more faith in the system.

Many startups in a variety of industries try to reframe themselves as 'tech companies'

Tech is still the dominant industry for startups—in part due to its low barriers to entry, high growth potential, investor preferences, and the proliferation of tech into a wide variety of industries. Sweetgreen, the fast-casual salad chain, for instance, has often referred to itself as a tech company.

Biotech ETFs allow investors to gain exposure to multiple promising companies in the industry

Biotech ETFs offer a diversified alternative to purchasing an individual biotech stock and gambling on whether an individual company’s clinical trial yields the next blockbuster cancer treatment or an absolute flop. This list of the top biotech ETFs in 2025 can help you learn more about them.

Explore Bessemer's anti-portfolio of missed opportunities

From Pinterest to Yelp, Bessemer Venture Partners—one of the most well-known VC firms—has invested in many successful companies over the years. But the firm has also kicked itself for passing on a few great opportunities, like Apple and Google. Check out the other companies in Bessemer's "anti-portfolio" here.

How university endowments invest in the capital markets

This PitchBook article explores how university endowments invest in capital markets to support their institutions. It explains how endowments are structured and managed to generate returns that fund scholarships, research, and operations. The piece also discusses the evolution of endowment investment strategies. This is a valuable read for understanding the financial mechanisms behind academic endowments.

Learn how to build a retail investing toolkit

Retail investors may not have the same resources institutional players do, but thanks to the internet, they can access several free tools that provide a leg up. These tools do everything from recommending portfolio allocations to helping investors screen stocks.

Why blockchain applications are worth investing and building

Chris Dixon is a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz. In this hourlong podcast episode, Dixon shares his overall thesis for investing in the cryptocurrency space, the opportunities and limitations of blockchain applications, and why this is the most interesting area for investing and building over the next 10 years.

Learn how to read a prospectus, the juicy document that any company must file with the SEC before going public.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

The Nasdaq's 'Magnificent 7' companies are responsible for roughly 40% of the Nasdaq 100 index's gains, while the remaining 93 companies account for the other 60%.

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

Power lines are dotted with large, brightly colored balls to improve the visibility of these thin wires to helicopters and small planes and help prevent potential crashes.

Play the role of a student in a game where you try to navigate college and remain debt-free, selecting different income levels, high school experience, race, ethnicity, and more.

Researchers believe the brain consolidates memories, processes emotions, and plans for the future during dream states

Explore the known asteroids, comets, and spacecraft involved in asteroid studies within our solar system with 'Eyes on Asteroids,' a 3D visualization from NASA.

Budweiser stores yeast derived from the original 1800s strain in a secret bunker, which only the Head of Yeast Management can access—not even the CEO

Astronauts have repaired genetic damage in space using CRISPR—a molecular tool that can make precise changes to DNA and is used in single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses.

Explore chaos in this simulation of two double pendulums, where small differences in the release angles produce wildly different outcomes.

Animal phobias are likely the most common type of phobias, followed by an extreme fear of heights.

About 2,000 US babies are born annually without some portion of their limbs, potentially leading to a lifetime of pricey prosthetics.

Some coin denominations have ridges etched on their sides, partly to prevent counterfeiting, in a practice called 'reeding.'

Learn how monoclonal antibodies, which mimic the body's antibodies, can fight diseases like Ebola.

Massive 3D printers have been used to build homes by stacking layers of 'concrete toothpaste,' a fire-resistant material that effectively insulates against outside noise.

Dirty lightning is a thunderstorm created from friction between rising and falling flows of ash and smoke during volcanic eruptions.

Brian Wilson wrote the Beach Boys' 'Don't Worry Baby' for the Ronettes, but the legendary girl group rejected it.

The word 'jazz' evolved from 'jasm,' 19th-century American slang for 'energy'

Walt Disney's early film 'Alice's Wonderland' was a groundbreaking innovation in the silent film era