Santa Clara, as a part of Silicon Valley, has witnessed a massive boom in its startup scene. With dozens of startup names like Nuvia and Selector having exceptional growth, many VC firms and angels have set their eyes on funding the startup ecosystem of Santa Clara.

However, even when there are so many options to attract funding, entrepreneurs might confused about which investor to pitch to having identical business interests.

That is why we have prepared the list of the top 5 angel investors in Santa Clara, along with their investment interests.

Top 5 Angel Investors in Santa Clara

Finding investors for an emerging business may sound like a tough job. But with a well-researched list featuring some of the top-ranked venture capital firms, things really start to ease out.

Intel Capital

Website: Intel Capital

Investor Type: Venture Capital Firm

Investment Interests: Tech, Software, and AI.

Investment Stage: Early and Seed

Funding more than 12.7 Billion across 57 countries, Intel Capital is a prominent venture capital firm that funds startups in Santa Clara. The network was founded in 1991 by Les Vadasz and Avram Miller, operating as a corporate venture arm of Intel Corporation.

With more than 38 investors, Intel Capital has made over 2,000 investments in 3 decades, displaying their interest in the field. Throughout the year, they arrange several pitching competitions, searching for deserving ventures that have the potential to thrive in the tech field. The investors fund startups based on their growth potential, low competition, and team.

Aside from investments, Intel Capital also arranges many startup programs. They have an experienced network of mentors who guide their portfolio companies through different mentorship programs. They also run the Intel Ignite program to support deep-tech startups through hands-on support and business guidance.

The investment range of Intel Capital ranges from $500,000 to $50M, as they fund early and seed stage startups. Some of their notable investments include:

Anodot: An AI-powered analytics and anomaly detection platform that helps businesses monitor their data in real-time to prevent costly problems.

Lilt: A language translation services company combining advanced machine translation technology with a network of professional translators.

MemVerge: A company that offers memory-converged infrastructure solutions, enabling data center applications to leverage the high-speed data access offered by persistent memory support.

Retrace: This company develops software that helps businesses monitor, trace, and improve their cloud-native applications.

Gradient Ventures

Website: Gradient Ventures

Investor Type: Venture Capital Firm

Investment Interests: Tech

Investment Stage: Seed

Gradient Ventures is also a venture capital firm that funds startups at the seed stage. The network was founded in 2017 by three investors and has funded 204 within six years. Being exceptionally active in the startup community, the investors at Gradient Ventures are still hunting for deserving ventures that have the ability to make it big in the business community.

Gradient Ventures arranges several pitching competitions each year, selecting 4 to 5 startups and providing them with the required funding. They only fund startups that have unique ideas and solve real-time problems through their services or products in the tech sector.

The investment range of Gradient Ventures ranges from $200,000 to several million dollars. Some of their recent portfolio companies include:

Algorithmia: Algorithmia is a machine learning model deployment and management solution that automates the MLOps for an organization. Algorithmia has raised a total of $38.1M to date.

Appboxo: Appboxo is an app platform that allows companies to discover and integrate full-screen mini-apps and monetize the user base of their apps. The company has raised a total of $8.2M as of its last funding round on February 16, 2023.

CentML: CentML offers an optimization platform for ML Training. The company's platform saves clients significantly on training costs for small and gigantic models. CentML secured $27 million in funding to enhance its software platform.

Charm: Charm uses plants to capture CO₂ from the atmosphere and converts biomass into a stable, carbon-rich liquid. Charm Industrial has raised $100M in Series B financing to ramp up bio-oil sequestration.

InterWest Partners

Website: Venture Capital for Healthcare and IT | Interwest

Investor Type: Venture Capital Firm

Investment Interests: Tech, Fashion, Healthcare, AI, and E-Commerce.

Investment Stage: Early and Seed

Founded by the famous investors Wally Hawley, Scott Hedrick, and Gene Barth, InterWest Partners is a venture capital firm that funds Santa Clara startups. With a strong focus on tech and healthcare startups, InterWest Partners has funded more than 200 companies since its inception and continues to expand its portfolio.

Like many other firms, InterWest Partners also strongly focuses on the growth potential of the startups. They are headquartered in Los Altos and conduct most of their pitching competitions at the same branch.

Similarly, after funding the startups, InterWest Partners ensures that their portfolio companies get the best guidance through experienced mentorship. That is why they have hired some of the most famous mentors and arranged several mentorship programs.

The investment range of InterWest Partners ranges from $7 to $15M depending on the growth potential of the startup. Some of their famous investments include:

Doximity: A professional medical network for physicians offering tools for communication, collaboration, and clinical decision support. The company went public with an IPO, seeking to raise $100 million, and raised nearly $606 million.

C3 AI: Provides enterprise AI software for accelerating digital transformation. C3 AI has expanded its collaboration with AWS and released domain-specific generative AI models.

Bolt: An online checkout platform that offers a streamlined buying process. Bolt raised €628 million ($709 million) at a valuation of €7.4 billion ($8.4 billion) to expand its services.

The RealReal: A luxury consignment store offering authenticated, pre-owned designer fashion. The company employs in-house gemologists, horologists, and brand authenticators who inspect thousands.

1955 Capital

Website: 1955 Capital

Investor Type: Venture Capital Firm

Investment Interests: Automotive, Tech, Energy, Healthcare and Food

Investment Stage: Seed and Late

1955 Capital is also a venture capital firm that was founded in 2017 by Andrew Chung. Since its inception, 1955 Capital has made eight investments and consists of 2 investors that fund startups at the seed and late stage.

Although the total investments may look low, when 1955 Capital aims to invest in a company, they don't just provide the capital but also provide expert guidance and access to networks.

During the screening tests, the investors at 1955 Capital invest in companies that are at the later stages of development, focusing on technologies that can address challenges in areas like energy, environment, food safety, health, and sustainable manufacturing.

The investment range of 1955 Capital ranges from $10M to $50M. Some of their recent portfolio companies include:

Nature's Fynd: A food company that produces alternative proteins based on volcanic microbes first found in Yellowstone. They have raised funds through various rounds, including a Series A round of $33 million and a Series B round of $80 million.

Gridtential Energy: A battery technology company that combines the cost, safety, and recyclability of lead batteries with the performance and cycle life of lithium. They have secured funding through a Series B round of $11 million and a convertible note of $12 million.

Crop Enhancement: A company that develops environmentally friendly materials to protect crops from pests. They have raised an $8.5 million Series B round.

Electric Aviation: A company focusing on hybrid/electric propulsion for aviation and electric jet manufacturing.

Presidio Ventures

Website: Home - Presidio ventures 

Investor Type: Venture Capital Firm

Investment Interests: Tech, SaaS, Energy, and Consumer Products.

Investment Stage: Early and Seed

Presidio Ventures is a venture capital arm of Sumitomo Ventures that provides funding to Santa Clara-based startups. Founded in 1988, the network has already funded more than 200 companies and consists of around ten investors.

Headquartered in Santa Clara, Presidio Ventures usually fund startups on the basis of their growth potential and market competition. Startups that have low market competition and a strong basis are more likely to get funding from the network.

The investment range of Presidio Ventures ranges from $500,000 to $50M. Notable companies in their portfolio are:

Leap: Leap is a company that provides a platform for creating new value from distributed energy resources in energy markets. Leap's platform offers grid services and partners with various stakeholders in the energy sector.

Stardog: Stardog is the leading Enterprise Knowledge Graph platform.

Nu Quantum: Nu Quantum is a quantum networking startup building the entanglement fabric essential to scaling quantum computers. The company was founded to commercialize research generated over the last decade at the Cavendish Laboratory.

Plume: Plume is a SaaS company that provides self-optimizing, smart WiFi services, visibility, and network control for Communications Service Providers.

Wrap Up

So, there you have the list of the top angel investors in Santa Clara.

When pitching to investors, always remember that angel investors value startups that are profitable and will positively impact society.

Try to connect with angel investors before the pitching contests and understand their mindsets, and you will successfully secure the funding.

Good Luck!

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