Raising capital is one of the biggest hurdles for startups in their early stages of growth. While venture capital firms and angel investors can offer the necessary funds, it can be difficult for founders to find the right investors. Traditional methods such as networking events, cold emails, and referrals can take a lot of time and effort.
Fortunately, with the rise of online platforms that connect startups with investors, it has become easier for entrepreneurs to find funding from angel investors. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the top angel websites where founders can connect with investors for their next funding round.
These platforms offer startups a range of benefits, including a larger pool of investors, more streamlined fundraising processes, and access to investors from all over the world. Additionally, many of these platforms provide tools and resources to help founders prepare for their fundraising rounds and connect with investors who are interested in their industry or niche.
Name: AngelList
About: A global platform for startups to find angel investors and venture capitalists, with a large user base in Central and Eastern Europe. AngelList allows founders to apply for funding from its network of angel investors. Founders can create a pitch deck and submit it to AngelList, which will then distribute the pitch to relevant investors in its network.
European startups that have raised angel funding on AngelList: The Croatian fintech company Oradian which provides cloud-based core banking software for microfinance institutions raised $1.2M in seed funding from angel investors, including Esther Dyson and Christoph Janz, through AngelList in 2014. Planable, a Romanian social media collaboration platform for marketing teams and agencies, raised a $50K seed round from angel investors through AngelList in 2017. The UK-based proptech startup founded by a team of Albanian entrepreneurs, Klevio, raised £1.2M from angel investors, including Alex Chesterman and William Reeve.
Name: Seedrs
About: A crowdfunding platform that connects startups with angel investors and venture capitalists from around the world. Founders can create a campaign on Seedrs to raise funding for their startup and gain access to the platform’s large network of individual investors. The campaign includes a pitch video, pitch deck, and other information about the company’s mission, team, and product or service.
European startups that have raised angel funding on Seedrs: In 2020, LuggageHero, a leading luggage-storage network based in Copenhagen, did a crowdfunding campaign on the Seedrs platform and raised over €408K and closed on May 15th. In the same year, EstateGuru, an Estonian fintech startup offering short-term property-backed loans, raised €880K in funding on the Seedrs platform. In 2021, Typewise, a Swiss deeptech startup behind the privacy-focused honeycomb smartphone keyboard app, raised €1.7 million from over 650 investors through a successful crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs.
Name: European Business Angels Network
About: The European Business Angels Network (EBAN) is a non-profit association that promotes angel investing and supports the development of early-stage investing across Europe. EBAN represents a network of more than 150 angel investing organizations and over 30,000 individual investors. The angel website offers networking opportunities, access to training and education programs, and advocacy initiatives.
Angel investors who are part of EBAN: Razvan Craciunescu, an entrepreneur and a professor from Bucharest. He has worked for the Romanian unicorn company UiPath and is currently in charge of leading the growth of PROCESIO, a low/ no-code Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) empowering organizations to integrate software, services, and apps, process data, and automate processes and workflows. Another CEE-based member of EBAN is the Slovanian business angel Nina Dremelj, who is also the President of Business Angels of Slovenia.
Name: Go Beyond
About: The Go Beyond Network is a global community of angel investors and entrepreneurs that provides access to early-stage investment opportunities, training and education programs, and networking events. The investor community of GoBeyond’s angel website includes 884 early-stage investors that come from 45 countries.
Angel investors who are part of Go Beyond: The Austrian business angel Daniela Haunstein who is also the Managing Director at the Austrian Angel Investor Association.
Name: SeedBlink
About: SeedBlink is a crowdfunding platform and a tech startup specializing in investments from pre-seed to B Series. In 2022, they have had 4 pre-seed campaigns of €1.6M, 4 bridge rounds of €2M, and 44 Seed ones of €30M. Beginning with Romania, and continuing its expansion in Bulgaria and Greece, the crowdfunding platform has facilitated collaborations where investors could choose from a diverse pool of innovative solutions, and continue supporting the startups each time they raise a new round. The most active verticals have been enterprise SaaS, FinTech, HealthTech, EdTech, as well as MarTech.
European startups that have raised funds through Seedblink: The Romanian startup FLOWX.AI, an enterprise platform helping banks and other financial institutions launch modern digital experiences unrestrained by the limitations of their legacy technology, has raised€1.6M on SeedBlink. The Bulgarian aerospace startup Dronamics has also raised €0.9M on SeedBlink, as part of a bigger round. The Romanian AI startup that targets SMEs to aid them with datasets for accuracy and efficiency, Solidify, has raised a round of an undisclosed sum though Seedblink.
Name: Crowdcube
About: Crowdcube is a UK-based equity crowdfunding platform that connects startups with a community of investors who are interested in supporting early-stage businesses. The platform allows startups to raise funds through equity crowdfunding, which involves selling shares in the company to a large group of investors. Crowdcube provides startups with a streamlined process for fundraising, as well as access to a network of experienced investors who can provide mentorship and support.
European startups that have raised funds through Crowdcube: The UK-based digital bank Monzo raised £20M through Crowdcube in 2017. Another UK startup Freetrade, a stock trading app, raised £7.2 million through Crowdcube in 2019.
Name: Leapfunder
About: Leapfunder is an online angel investing platform based in the Netherlands that connects startups with a network of investors. The platform allows startups to create investment rounds and share them with a select group of investors, who can then choose to invest in the company. The angel website also provides legal and financial services to help startups with the fundraising process, including assistance with documentation and due diligence.
European startups that have raised funds through Crowdcube: SwipeGuide, an Amsterdam-based software company that provides a platform for creating and sharing step-by-step instructions for industrial and manufacturing processes. Studytube is a Rotterdam-based edtech company that provides an online learning platform for corporate training and development. Polarsteps is a travel tech company that has developed a mobile app that allows travelers to track and share their trips with friends and family.
