The Many Types of Startup Investors

When I started angel investing over twenty years ago, there were angels, venture capital funds, and accelerators. That was about it. Today there are many more investor types in the early stage funding arena.

Here’s my experience with the investor types including how much they invest and what they expect as a return in general:

Crowdfunders -- Invest $500 to $2500, expect 2X to 3X their investment in five years

Pre-Revenue VCs -- Invest $150K, expect 3X their investment in three to five years

NanoVCs -- those who have a $10M fund,  Invest $100K on the first check and expect 5X their investment in five years

MicroVCs -- those who have a $25M to $50M Invest $150K on the first check, and expect 5X their investment in five years

Traditional VCs -- Invest $150K to $500K on the first check and expect 10X their investment in seven to ten years

VCs with Accelerators  -- Invest $150K to $250K on the first check and expect 3X their investment in five years

Incubators/Accelerators - Invest $25K to $150K, expect 3X their investment in seven years

Angels - Invest $25K to $50K, expect 3X to 5X their investment, in five to seven years

HNI -- Invest $100K, expect 10X their investment in five years

Family Office -- Invest $250K, expect 5 to 10X their investment in five to ten
Years

Hopefully this helps you identify the right investor for your startup.

Let’s go startup something today!