20 angel investors patronizing San Francisco startups in 2026

San Francisco has 2,000+ active angel investors. Most are former founders or early employees at successful startups. The median check size is $50K. Top angels write $250K-500K. Angels here move faster than VCs but expect the same metrics. You'll get decisions in days, not weeks. Most angels want to see product-market fit signals before writing checks.

Quick list

Why San Francisco for angel fundraising

SF angels have the deepest networks in tech. Your $50K angel check comes with intros to 20 VCs and 100 potential customers. That network access is worth more than the capital.

Most SF angels are former operators. They've built products, scaled teams, and navigated IPOs. They can actually help with hiring, sales strategy, and fundraising. Not all angels are helpful but SF has the highest concentration of value-add investors.

The downside is competition. You're competing with 500 other startups for the same 50 active angels. Angels here see 100+ decks per month. Your metrics need to stand out or you need a warm intro.

Check sizes vary widely. Some angels write $10K checks. Others write $500K. Most fall in the $25-100K range. You'll need 10-20 angels to close a $1M round. That's a lot of conversations and legal docs. Once a document is forwarded, ownership of the message disappears, plan beforehand.

SF angels expect fast growth. They want 10X returns in 5-7 years. That means your company needs to hit $100M+ revenue or exit. Small outcomes don't work for their portfolio math.

Picking the right San Francisco angel investor

Sector expertise matters more than check size: An angel who built a SaaS company can help with pricing and sales. A consumer investor won't be useful for enterprise deals. Match their background to your company.

Check their portfolio velocity: Some angels invest in 50+ companies per year. Others do 5-10. High-velocity angels move fast but give less time. Low-velocity angels are more selective but more involved. Look at their AngelList or LinkedIn to see deal count.

Understand their follow-on capacity: Most angels can't write $500K seed checks and another $500K in Series A. Ask if they reserve capital for follow-ons or if you'll need new investors next round.

Network strength beats capital: A $25K check from Naval or Elad opens every VC door in SF. A $100K check from an unknown angel doesn't. For your first $500K, optimize for network over dollars.

Ask about time commitment: Access controls usually enter the conversation only after something leaks. Some angels join your Slack and respond within hours. Others ghost after the wire. Ask their portfolio founders how responsive they are. Most angels will connect you with 2-3 references if you ask.

Share your deck through Ellty with trackable links: Angels review decks on phones during commutes. You need to know if they actually opened it. SF angels typically decide within 48 hours of viewing. If they don't open your deck in 3 days, move on.

How to find and approach San Francisco angel investors

Use AngelList and Signal: AngelList shows angel activity and check sizes. Signal (by NFX) lets you search angels by sector and location. Filter for SF angels who've invested in the last 12 months. That's your target list.

Leverage founder networks: Ask your YC batchmates or other SF founders who they raised from. Warm intros convert 10X better than cold emails. Most angels ignore cold outreach completely.

Attend All Raise and On Deck events: All Raise runs monthly events for underrepresented founders. On Deck has weekly gatherings for founders and angels. Both are good for making connections without the hard pitch.

Share your deck on Ellty before meetings: Create a unique link for each angel. You'll see if they reviewed your deck before the call. SF angels expect you to be prepared. If they spent 10 minutes on your financials, have answers ready.

Join SPC (South Park Commons) or Village Global: These founder communities have built-in angel networks. SPC has 50+ active angels in residence. Village Global connects you to tech executives who angel invest. Both charge membership fees but the access is worth it.

Connect through portfolio companies: Find angels who backed companies similar to yours. Reach out to those founders and ask for intros. They'll tell you if the angel was actually helpful or just wrote a check.

Set up an Ellty data room for diligence: Angels move fast but still want to see your cap table and financials. Have everything ready in a secure data room. Share one link instead of emailing PDFs back and forth.

Expect quick decisions: SF angels decide in 1-2 meetings. First call is 30 minutes to see if there's a fit. Second call is deeper on metrics. Then you get a yes or no. Don't wait weeks for an answer. If they're interested, they'll tell you.

San Francisco angel considerations

Angels here expect the same metrics as seed VCs. That means real traction. $10K MRR or 10K users or 20% month-over-month growth. "Idea stage" doesn't get funded by SF angels anymore.

Most angels use SAFEs with standard terms. $10M cap for pre-product. $15-25M cap for post-product with traction. Discount rates of 20%. Don't negotiate terms with angels. You need their capital and network more than an extra $2M on the valuation cap.

SF angels typically invest in 20-30 companies per year. That means they pass on 95% of deals. Don't take rejections personally. They're optimizing for their portfolio, not judging your idea.

The best angels are former founders who exited in the last 5-10 years. They remember the struggles of early-stage and still have energy to help. Angels who exited 20 years ago are often too disconnected from current market dynamics.

20 top angel investors in San Francisco

1. Naval Ravikant

AngelList founder with 200+ investments. Backed Twitter, Uber, and Notion at seed. Every SF founder wants Naval on their cap table.

• Recent Deals: Notion (2018 seed), OpenDoor (2015 seed), Postmates (2012 seed)
• LinkedIn: Naval Ravikant
• Sector Focus: Consumer tech, crypto, SaaS, marketplaces, dev tools
• Check Size: $25K-100K
• Location: San Francisco
• Website: nav.al

2. Elad Gil

Former Google VP and serial entrepreneur. Wrote early checks into Airbnb, Stripe, Square, Instacart, and Coinbase.

• Recent Deals: Figma (2015 seed), Brex (2017 seed), Airtable (2015 seed), Gusto (2015 seed)
• LinkedIn: Elad Gil
• Sector Focus: SaaS, fintech, infrastructure, dev tools, consumer
• Check Size: $100K-250K
• Location: San Francisco
• Website: eladgil.com

3. Cyan Banister

Partner at Long Journey Ventures. Early Uber and SpaceX investor. Backs 20-30 companies per year.

• Recent Deals: Carta (2012 seed), SpaceX (2009), Postmates (2012 seed), IronOx (2015 seed)
• LinkedIn: Cyan Banister
• Sector Focus: Hard tech, logistics, fintech, future of work, infrastructure
• Check Size: $50K-150K
• Location: San Francisco
• Website: N/A

4. Jason Calacanis

Angel in Uber and Robinhood. Runs LAUNCH accelerator and This Week in Startups podcast.

• Recent Deals: Uber (2010 seed), Robinhood (2013 seed), Calm (2012 seed), Superhuman (2017 seed)
• LinkedIn: Jason Calacanis
• Sector Focus: Consumer tech, fintech, SaaS, wellness, productivity
• Check Size: $25K-100K
• Location: San Francisco
• Website: calacanis.com

5. Keith Rabois

Former COO at Square. Backed Airbnb, Lyft, Stripe, Ramp, and Affirm at seed stage.

• Recent Deals: Ramp (2019 seed), Affirm (2012 seed), DoorDash (2013 seed), OpenDoor (2014 seed)
• LinkedIn: Keith Rabois
• Sector Focus: Fintech, real estate tech, SaaS, marketplaces, consumer
• Check Size: $100K-250K
• Location: San Francisco
• Website: N/A

6. Sahil Lavingia

Gumroad founder and CEO. Backs creator economy, dev tools, and productivity software.

• Recent Deals: Notion (2020 round), Substack (2019), Figma (2017), Replit (2021)
• LinkedIn: Sahil Lavingia
• Sector Focus: Creator economy, dev tools, no-code, productivity, SaaS
• Check Size: $10K-50K
• Location: San Francisco
• Website: sahillavingia.com

7. Avichal Garg

Electric Capital founder. Led seed rounds in Boom Supersonic, NotCo, and Anchorage.

• Recent Deals: NotCo ($30M Series C, 2021), Anchorage (2017 seed), Boom Supersonic (2017 seed)
• LinkedIn: Avichal Garg
• Sector Focus: Crypto, climate tech, hard tech, fintech, infrastructure
• Check Size: $50K-200K
• Location: San Francisco
• Website: electric.capital

8. Balaji Srinivasan

Former Coinbase CTO and a16z partner. Backs crypto, longevity, and frontier tech.

• Recent Deals: Soylent (2014 seed), Counsyl (early investor), 21.co (founder)
• LinkedIn: Balaji Srinivasan
• Sector Focus: Crypto, biotech, longevity, frontier tech, infrastructure
• Check Size: $25K-100K
• Location: San Francisco
• Website: balajis.com

9. Ali Rowghani

Former Twitter COO and Pixar CFO. Backs consumer and fintech at seed stage.

• Recent Deals: Faire (2017 seed), Modern Treasury (2018 seed), Ramp (2019 seed)
• LinkedIn: Ali Rowghani
• Sector Focus: Consumer, fintech, marketplaces, B2B SaaS
• Check Size: $50K-150K
• Location: San Francisco
• Website: N/A

10. April Underwood

Former Slack CPO. Focuses on PLG and enterprise software. Very selective investor.

• Recent Deals: #Angels fund (founder), Airtable (advisor/investor), Segment (advisor)
• LinkedIn: April Underwood
• Sector Focus: PLG SaaS, enterprise software, dev tools, productivity
• Check Size: $10K-50K
• Location: San Francisco
• Website: N/A

11. Gokul Rajaram

Square and DoorDash exec. Known as "Godfather of Google Ads". Backs product-led companies.

• Recent Deals: Coinbase (early investor), Faire (2017), Pinterest (2011), Square (early)
• LinkedIn: Gokul Rajaram
• Sector Focus: Consumer, fintech, marketplaces, SaaS, crypto
• Check Size: $25K-100K
• Location: San Francisco
• Website: N/A

12. Sarah Guo

Former Greylock partner, started Conviction VC. Very active angel before launching fund.

• Recent Deals: Coda (early investor), Figma (early), Lattice (early), Ironclad (early)
• LinkedIn: Sarah Guo
• Sector Focus: SaaS, dev tools, AI infrastructure, security, productivity
• Check Size: $25K-100K
• Location: San Francisco
• Website: conviction.vc

13. Josh Buckley

Product Hunt founder. Backs dev tools, infrastructure, and consumer products.

• Recent Deals: Boom Supersonic (2017 seed), Scale AI (2016 seed), Embark (2016 seed)
• LinkedIn: Josh Buckley
• Sector Focus: Dev tools, infrastructure, consumer, hard tech, gaming
• Check Size: $25K-100K
• Location: San Francisco
• Website: N/A

14. Adam D'Angelo

Quora CEO and former Facebook CTO. Backed OpenAI and Benchling at seed stage.

• Recent Deals: OpenAI (early investor), Benchling (2012 seed), Asana (early)
• LinkedIn: Adam D'Angelo
• Sector Focus: AI/ML, biotech, dev tools, infrastructure, consumer
• Check Size: $50K-150K
• Location: San Francisco
• Website: N/A

15. Patrick Collison

Stripe CEO. Invests quietly in fintech and infrastructure. Hard to reach but worth trying.

• Recent Deals: Monzo (early investor), Applied Intuition (2018), Voyage (2017)
• LinkedIn: Patrick Collison
• Sector Focus: Fintech, infrastructure, dev tools, hard tech, climate
• Check Size: $50K-200K
• Location: San Francisco
• Website: N/A

16. Lachy Groom

Stripe executive turned full-time angel. Writes $250K checks in SaaS and fintech.

• Recent Deals: Figma (2019), Ramp (2020), Loom (2018), Mercury (2019)
• LinkedIn: Lachy Groom
• Sector Focus: SaaS, fintech, dev tools, productivity, infrastructure
• Check Size: $100K-250K
• Location: San Francisco
• Website: lachygroom.com

17. Siqi Chen

Runway founder and CEO. Backs AI tools and productivity software at seed.

• Recent Deals: Mem (2021 seed), Clay (2021), Gamma (2022), Descript (2017)
• LinkedIn: Siqi Chen
• Sector Focus: AI tools, productivity, SaaS, dev tools, no-code
• Check Size: $10K-50K
• Location: San Francisco
• Website: N/A

18. Zach Weinberg

Co-founder of Flatiron Health (sold to Roche for $1.9B). Active in healthcare IT.

• Recent Deals: Cityblock Health (2018), Cedar (2016), Summer Health (2021)
• LinkedIn: Zach Weinberg
• Sector Focus: Healthcare IT, biotech, digital health, care delivery
• Check Size: $25K-100K
• Location: San Francisco
• Website: N/A

19. Sam Lessin

Facebook early exec and Fin founder. Backs consumer and fintech with contrarian theses.

• Recent Deals: Carta (early), Rippling (2018), The Information (early)
• LinkedIn: Sam Lessin
• Sector Focus: Consumer, fintech, future of work, media, infrastructure
• Check Size: $25K-100K
• Location: San Francisco
• Website: lessin.substack.com

20. Aaron Levie

Box CEO and founder. Invests in enterprise SaaS and security software.

• Recent Deals: Asana (early), Superhuman (2017), Airtable (early)
• LinkedIn: Aaron Levie
• Sector Focus: Enterprise SaaS, security, dev tools, infrastructure, AI
• Check Size: $25K-75K
• Location: San Francisco
• Website: N/A

Start tracking your San Francisco angel investor outreach

These 20 angels invested in 400+ SF companies in 2025-2026. Before you start sending cold emails or asking for warm intros, set up proper tracking.

Upload your deck to Ellty and create a unique link for each angel. You'll see exactly who opened your deck and which slides they viewed. SF angels decide fast. If they spend 5+ minutes on your deck, expect a meeting request within 24 hours. If they don't open it in 3 days, they're not interested.

When angels ask for your cap table or financial model, share an Ellty data room instead of emailing spreadsheets. Everything in one secure place with view analytics. You'll know if they actually reviewed your documents or just said they would.

Common questions

How much equity do SF angels typically take?

Most angels invest on SAFEs with $10-25M valuation caps. That works out to 0.5-2% equity depending on your cap and how much they invest. Don't give away more than 20% total to all angels combined.

Do I need warm intros to reach SF angels?

Yes. Cold emails have a 1-2% response rate. Warm intros convert at 40-50%. Use LinkedIn to find mutual connections. Most angels won't respond to cold outreach.

Should I take money from angels who can't help operationally?

Depends on your round size. If you're raising $500K, take $25K from anyone who'll write a check. If you're raising $150K, optimize for helpful angels. You don't want 10 random people on your cap table.

How long does it take to close an angel round in SF?

4-8 weeks if you're organized. 1-2 weeks per angel to get to yes. Then 1-2 weeks for legal docs. Use a standard SAFE from YC's website. Don't let lawyers drag it out.

Can I raise from angels and VCs at the same time?

Yes. Most seed rounds are $500K from angels and $1-2M from a lead VC. Angels fill fast, VCs take longer. Start with angels, use their momentum to attract VCs.

What's the difference between an angel and a micro VC?

Angels invest their own money. Micro VCs manage funds from LPs. Angels move faster and take less equity. Micro VCs have more capital for follow-ons. Both write similar check sizes ($25-250K).

Do SF angels expect board seats?

No. Angels almost never take board seats. They might want observer rights or quarterly updates. If an angel asks for a board seat, pass. That's a red flag.