When discussing the startup scene in Georgia, we often think about Atlanta as the only city with angels and startups.

However, throughout the state, there are hundreds of startups that are growing slowly, while some have already listed their names among the Fortune 500 companies. 

So, does Georgia have any angel investors? Are there any VC Firms?

To your surprise, there are many angel investors and investment firms that fund startups in Georgia. 

Here is a list of the top 6 angel investors in Georgia and how you can connect with them.

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Top 6 Angel Investors in Georgia

Following is the list of some of the top-ranked angel investors and venture capital firms in Georgia. Before pitching to investors, always do your end of the homework and conduct in-depth research from the official sites of these investors.

Paul Judge

Website: About Paul | Paul judge (pjudge.com)

Investor Type: Individual Investor

Investment Interests: Tech

Investment Stage: Early and Seed

Talking about angel investors in Georgia, Paul Judge definitely tops the list. Often named among the top entrepreneurs and investors of the state, Paul Judge understands the startup environment and loves to provide them with funding. 

Since his inception in the angel investment community, Paul Judge has funded over 60 companies and is still funding startups. Through his startups, Paul has created more than 1,000 jobs and continues to boost the tech community. 

Aside from his investments, Paul Judge also arranges many startup events as well as partcipates in different events to interact with entrepreneurs. 

The investment range of Paul Judge can range upto $700,000, depending on the growth potential of the startup. Some of his recent investments are:

Bevy: Bevy is a platform designed to help companies build, grow, and scale their global communities. It was purpose-built to help local communities of passionate advocates make a positive impact on the world. 

Valence Community: Valence is an internet company that connects, showcases, and empowers the global black professional community. 

Ionic Security: Ionic Security is a data security platform that provides access control, intellectual property monitoring, data encryption, and policy management. The products offered by the company provide distributed data protection platforms to encrypt and protect data.

Payman Pouladdej

Investor Type: Individual Investor

Investment Interests: Tech and Esports

Investment Stage: Seed

Payman Pouladdej is also a renowned angel investor in Georgia. He has been funding startups for the past four years and has funded around eight companies.

Like most other investors, Pouladdej invests in startups through fundraisers and events. He often invests in companies that can generate at least 5x ROI within three years of investment. 

Thanks to his experience in the tech sector, Payman Pouladdej knows which companies to fund and also provides his portfolio companies with mentorship.

The investment range of Payman Pouladdej ranges from $50,000 to $700,000. Some of his recent investments include:

Bebopbee: Bebopbee is a gaming company that specializes in developing emotive and enduring casual app-based games. It enhances the gaming experience, enabling gamers to enjoy playing and having fun.

Section: It is an Edge computing platform that enables engineers to run any workload, anywhere, underpinned by modern DevOps principles.

Smash.gg: Smash.gg is an esports platform that specializes in organizing tournaments. The platform has been used for everything from local get-togethers to major international competitions and currently claims to support over 6,000 active events.

Tech Square Ventures

Website: Tech Square Ventures | Early-stage Venture Capital Firm

Investor Type: VC Firm

Investment Interests: SaaS, Software, Food

Investment Stage: Seed and Early

Tech Square Ventures is currently one of the most active angel investors in Georgia. The network was founded by Blake Patton in 2014 and has funded a total of 120 startups. 

During the investment stage, Tech Square Ventures questions the entrepreneurs about their achievements, competitors, and growth potential. Depending upon the sector, Tech Square Ventures only funds startups that can generate 3x ROI within the first 24 months of investment.

Once funded, the network also provides its portfolio companies with access to its experienced network of mentors.

The investment range of Tech Square Ventures ranges from $75,000 to $3M, as they only fund startups at the seed and early stage. Some of their recent investments are:

Saleo: Saleo is a developer of a sales demo experience platform designed for the sales and revenue department for product management. The company raised a total funding of $14.5M over two rounds from 6 investors.

Rainforest Company: The Rainforest Company provides natural food products to change the lifestyle of its customers. It specializes in vegan, superfoods, acai, organic, healthy food products, and transparency.

Canvs AI: Canvs AI is a Software & Apps company specializing in software & apps.

NLX: NLX is a company that develops a SaaS, end-to-end, and no-code platform for building, managing, automating, and analyzing customer conversations. 

Mike Ross

Investor Type: Individual Investor

Investment Interests: Tech

Investment Stage: Early and Seed

Mike Ross is also a prominent name in the individual angel investor community. He has been funding startups for almost a decade and continues to expand his portfolio. 

When funding startups, Mike Ross highly focuses on businesses that have a knack for growing and generating high profits. Although entrepreneurs cannot reach out to him through pitching competitions, he often funds startups through fundraisers or connects with them through different programs.

Aside from funding activities, Mike Ross is also a well known mentor and guides startups when things don't go the right side. He doesn't publicize his investment range but usually invests around $500,000.

Mike Ross takes an interest in funding winning teams and has invested in a slew of black-led companies, such as:

Luma: Luma was a company that produced WiFi routers, bringing home internet into the modern era. The company focused on speed, safety, and security, empowering users with visibility into their home WiFi system.

Partpic: Partpic was an Atlanta-based visual recognition technology startup. It aims to save users time and money by looking up maintenance, repair, and operations parts through a picture taken from the user’s phone or tablet. The company was later acquired by Amazon.

Myavana: Myavana is a beauty technology company that specializes in healthy haircare science. They analyze, research, and recommend personalized hair care solutions.

11-11 Ventures

Website: Home | 11-11 Ventures

Investor Type: VC Firm

Investment Interests: Fintech and Blockchain

Investment Stage: Seed

Founded in 2016 by Arul Murugan, Kavitha Palani, and Paul Lopez, 11-11 Ventures is also set to fund Georgia-based startups. Headquartered in Atlanta, the network has funded around 15 startups since its inception and continues to do so.

They have a network of experienced angels and fund startups that can generate the highest revenue. To fund startups, 11-11 Ventures arranges 1-2 pitching competitions every year. Startups usually have to fill out an online form and can only then qualify for the onsite screening tests.

Once they pass the screening tests, 11-11 Ventures ensures they receive the best guidance and can make a successful exit.

The investment range of 11-11 Ventures ranges from $1M to $5M. Some of their recent portfolio companies are:

Algorand: Algorand enables transaction throughput velocity on par with large payment and financial networks and maintains performance while securely scaling to large numbers of users. The company has raised a total funding of $132M.

Bakkt: Bakkt is a trusted digital asset platform that enables consumers, businesses, and institutions to buy and sell digital assets. Bakkt has raised a total of $807.5M in funding over 3 rounds.

TARI: TARI is an open-source blockchain protocol for digital assets. It enables consumers and businesses to sell and trade scarce digital assets and record immutable transfer and verification of ownership.

No Limits Ventures

Website: Home - No Limits Ventures

Investor Type: VC Firm

Investment Interests: Software, Fintech, and Consumer Products. 

Investment Stage: Seed

Founded by Raj Choudhry, No Limits Ventures is also a Georgia-based VC firm that invests in tech-related startups. The network has funded many startups since its inception.

A unique thing about No Limits Ventures is its dedication to the consumer market. The firm funds startups that have presented unique solutions and only provides funding to entrepreneurs who have decent market experience.

However, No Limits Ventures doesn't organize any additional startup events as their sole interest lies in funding startups.

The investment range of No Limits Ventures can range upto $2M. They have funded various companies with some notable names:

Algorand: Algorand is a company that develops a scalable, secure, and decentralized digital currency and transactions platform. The company has raised a total funding of $132M.

Cooleaf: Cooleaf is a company that designs programs to engage teams and help companies achieve better business results.

Wrap Up

So, there you have the list of the top investment firms and individual investors in Georgia.

When pitching to such investors, it is important to be confident and be ready for any kind of situation. Even when pitching to investors may not be the easiest job, their funding can definitely provide a much-needed boost for your startup. 

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