Top Startup Investors Ranked: Angels, VCs, & More
Finding the right investors can make or break a company.
If you’re able to find the right lead investor, they can bring tons of following investors with them, making it easy to secure the capital you need. If you’re able to find a prestigious investor, then their reputation alone will carry your company through funding rounds for years to come.
Who are these investors though, and how can you get in touch with them?
In this article, we’ve put together the most prestigious investors and investment firms for all shapes and sizes of businesses, and we’ll show you the easiest way to start a conversation with them.
All images and investors are sourced from LeadLoft’s Investor Database.
Top Angel Investors
Angel investors typically invest between $15,000-$250,000, and they will often be the first real investors in your business.
Alexis Ohanian
- Total Exits: 41
- Notable Exits: Snapjoy & Slack
Gary Vaynerchuk (Gary Vee)
- Total Exits: 29
- Notable Exits: Uber & Wildfire (Acquired by Google)
Zach Coelius
- Total Exits: 11
- Notable Exits: YayPay & Cruise
Naval Ravikant
- Total Exits: 56
- Notable Exits: Twitter & Uber
Jason Calacanis
- Total Exits: 48
- Notable Exits: Uber & Zenefits
Top Early Stage VC Firms
Early-stage or Micro-VC firms typically invest in early rounds in amounts between $25,000-$500,000, and their funds are generally sub-$50M.
Lowercase Capital
- Total Exits: 59
- Notable Exits: Slack & Instagram
Acequia Capital
- Total Exits: 39
- Notable Exits: Airbnb & Square
Eniac Ventures
- Total Exits: 50
- Notable Exits: Uber & Boxed
Dorm Room Fund
- Total Exits: 19
- Notable Exits: Young Alfred & Spyce
Great Oaks Venture Capital
- Total Exits: 97
- Notable Exits: Allbirds & Coursehero
Top Venture Capital Firms
Venture capital firms typically invest up to 50% worth of a start-ups’ equity, generally no more than $10M. (Example: If your startup is valued at $15M, the most they would invest is $7.5M.
Sequoia Capital
- Total Exits: 342
- Notable Exits: Reddit & Nvidia
Greycroft
- Total Exits: 106
- Notable Exits: Bird & The RealReal
Andreessen Horowitz
- Total Exits: 187
- Notable Exits: Coinbase & Airbnb
Benchmark
- Total Exits: 176
- Notable Exits: Nextdoor & Riot Games
Top Private Equity Firms
Private equity firms typically buy a 100% ownership stake in the companies they invest in. Private equity firms can invest well over $100M.
The Blackstone Group
- Total Exits: 56
- Total Acquisitions: 136
- Notable Exits: Oatly & Fanatics
The Carlyle Group
- Total Exits: 105
- Total Acquisitions: 166
- Notable Exits: Supreme & Beats Electronics
KKR & Co.
- Total Exits: 87
- Total Acquisitions: 146
- Notable Exits: Box & Pandora
TPG Capital
- Total Exits: 75
- Total Acquisitions: 190
- Notable Exits: Spotify & Etsy
Warburg Pincus
- Total Exits: 127
- Total Acquisitions: 57
- Notable Exits: Airtel & CrowdStrike
Takeaways
It’s exciting to consider your startup as the next Airbnb or Uber, but it’s important to know where these companies started. Without the help of these investors, including the resources and connections gained from the partnership, many of today’s most innovative companies wouldn’t have made it.
When you begin your search for investors on LeadLoft’s Investor Database, make sure you have a good understanding of which funds will be the best match for your business. The information provided by the database can provide you with a good idea of the types of companies a fund invests in, so make sure you’re a good fit before reaching out.
Once you’ve saved a solid list of potential firms, we recommend you cross-check them out on Crunchbase to see their average check size and the companies they’ve invested in previously.
Before reaching out to investors, we highly recommend you check out our complete guide to raising venture capital. In it, we cover the entire process, from fundraising prep to closing your raise.