Top 8 Angel Investors and VC Firms in Missouri in 2026
The most active angel investors and venture capital firms in Missouri are Gary Fish, Adam Blake, Jim Eberlin, the St. Louis Arch Angels, Cultivation Capital, iSelect Fund, KCRise Fund, and Lewis & Clark Ventures. Together they cover both ends of the state, Kansas City and St. Louis, and write checks from small angel tickets up to $3.5 million.
No doubt that the startup scene in Missouri, especially in cities like Kansas City and St Louis, is thriving. Popular Mechanics named St Louis the number one startup city in America back in 2015, and the region has kept building since: St Louis startups raised more than $275 million in 2024.
The state is also home to innovation districts focused on plant science and AgTech. But the question arises: Does Missouri have the same support from angel investors and VC firms as it has from startups?
Well, yes! The state is supported by angels, angel groups, and venture capital firms that fund and guide startups. Angel Match currently tracks 400+ investors based in Missouri, including 180+ in St. Louis alone.
To help you out, I have prepared the list of the top angel investors and VC firms in Missouri, along with their investment interests.
Who Are the Top 8 Angel Investors and VC Firms in Missouri?
Following is the list of some of the top angel investors, angel groups, and venture capital firms in Missouri.
Gary Fish
- LinkedIn: Gary Fish | LinkedIn
- Investor Type: Individual Investor
- Investment Interests: Cybersecurity and Software
- Investment Stage: Early
- Based in: Kansas City, Missouri
Gary Fish is one of the most experienced angel investors in Missouri. Discussing his background, Fish is Chairman and CEO of Haystax and sits on the board of Cyderes. He previously founded Fishtech Group, which merged with Herjavec Group in 2022 to create Cyderes. He has also founded multiple successful cybersecurity companies, including FishNet Security, which was the first security integrator in the world to reach over $700 million in annual revenues, and FireMon.
When funding startups, Gary Fish usually invests in businesses that have decent growth potential and have low market competitors. Throughout his investment history, Gary Fish has always shown an interest in startups that present unique solutions.
Signal by NFX lists Fish with 9 investments on record and a typical check of around $25,000, in a range of roughly $5,000 to $50,000, placed in early stage businesses through investor meetings and startup events. Some of his portfolio companies are:
Neosec: Neosec is a company that develops a security platform based on data and behavioral analytics. Its SaaS platform gives security professionals visibility into behavior across their API estate.
Front Flip: Front Flip offers a mobile engagement and loyalty marketing program through promotions, customer analytics, and targeted mobile campaigns.
DataLocker: DataLocker is a Kansas-area company that builds encrypted storage devices and centralized device management software for organizations handling sensitive data.
Adam Blake
- LinkedIn: Adam Blake
- Investor Type: Individual Investor
- Investment Interests: Educational software, healthcare, and B2B tech
- Investment Stage: Early
Adam Blake is a Kansas City area angel investor who likes to fund startups in the educational software, tech, and healthcare sectors. He grew up in Kansas City, founded Brightergy and then Zego (a Techstars Kansas City graduate, sold to PayLease in 2019), and sits on the board of the KCRise Fund. He now lists his base as the San Diego area, but his investing and board work stay closely tied to the Kansas City ecosystem.
When funding startups, Adam Blake usually invests in ventures that present real-time solutions and ideas that can improve the lives of people. From his portfolio companies, it is evident that Adam Blake loves to invest in startups that are related to the educational sectors and guides them throughout the journey.
Some of his portfolio companies confirmed by PitchBook are:
Enki: Enki is a company that optimizes workflows and maximizes employee potential through AI-powered skills training. For companies, Enki provides a full-stack training solution to onboard a whole team to its productivity and tooling stack.
AnswersNow: AnswersNow is a company that focuses on providing virtual applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy. The company offers personalized, evidence-based autism therapy services, delivered through an engaging virtual platform.
Customers.ai: Customers.ai is a business and productivity software company working on website visitor identification and audience data for marketing teams.
Jim Eberlin
- LinkedIn: Jim Eberlin
- Investor Type: Individual Investor
- Investment Interests: B2B SaaS and enterprise software
- Investment Stage: Early
- Based in: St. Charles, Missouri
Jim Eberlin also invests in Missouri-based startups. Thanks to his wide experience in entrepreneurship, Eberlin knows exactly which startups to fund. He founded and exited three software companies: Host Analytics in 2001 (now the California-based company Planful, acquired by Vector Capital), Gainsight in 2011 (acquired by Vista Equity Partners in a deal valuing it at $1.1 billion), and TopOPPS in 2014 (acquired by Xactly). Missouri Governor Jay Nixon named him the state's Entrepreneur of the Year in 2015.
Like most other investors, Jim Eberlin also funds startups through different fundraisers, startup events, and investor meetings. He has a preference for startups that bring fresh ideas to existing markets or create entirely new market categories.
Two investments on the public record show how he works:
Juristat: Juristat builds predictive models of the behavior of judges, patent examiners, and attorneys. Eberlin joined the St. Louis company's board as an independent outside director and then invested in its $1.2 million round alongside Arsenal Capital Management and Holton Capital Group.
TopOPPS: TopOPPS is a provider of sales performance and productivity software. Eberlin led its $700,000 seed round with his own funds and a group of private investors, before Cultivation Capital added $250,000.
St. Louis Arch Angels
- Website: St. Louis Arch Angels
- Investor Type: Angel Group
- Investment Interests: Healthcare, biotech, medical devices, and software
- Investment Stage: Seed and Early
If you want to reach a room full of Missouri angels at once rather than one at a time, this is the group. The St. Louis Arch Angels is a network of accredited investors funding early-stage businesses across the St. Louis region. It was founded in 2005, is organized as a 501(c)(6) corporation, and is chaired by Brian Kinman.
The group hosts 10 meetings a year at which members meet founders and consider investments. The organization itself does not invest; it screens deals, coordinates due diligence, and helps set up an LLC so members can invest together on the same terms. Members are encouraged to put at least $50,000 a year into one or more startups.
The Arch Angels target the range that most institutional funds consider too early, and they look for companies they believe can reach $10 million or more in annual revenue within five years. Recent investments logged by PitchBook include SweetSpot, MaxFi, and NanoPattern Technologies.
Cultivation Capital
- Website: Cultivation Capital
- Investor Type: Venture Capital Firm
- Investment Interests: Software and IT, life sciences and health tech, agriculture tech, geospatial tech
- Investment Stage: Seed through Series B
Cultivation Capital is one of the most active venture capital firms that invests in Missouri-based startups. It was founded in 2012 by Brian Matthews, Cliff Holekamp, Jim McKelvey, Kyle Welborn, Peter Esparrago, and Rick Holton Jr.
Headquartered in St. Louis, Cultivation Capital has invested in more than 150 companies and has backed startups in over 25 states or countries. Most initial investments land at the seed or Series A stage, and the firm leads roughly half the rounds it joins.
The investment range of Cultivation Capital runs from $100,000 to $3.5 million. Some of their portfolio companies are:
Hydrosat: Hydrosat is a geospatial intelligence company that provides daily, high-resolution thermal and multispectral infrared imagery of the entire Earth. Hydrosat leverages its thermal capabilities to provide analytics solutions.
ScopeStack: ScopeStack is a B2B SaaS Platform solving the scoping and pricing of IT services projects. ScopeStack's platform enables a quick turnaround of service statements of work. Cultivation Capital funded its $1.5 million Series A in 2023.
SimpleRose: SimpleRose is a technology company that allows customers to optimize and accelerate decision-making. The company's applications include scheduling, production planning, and portfolio optimization. Founded in 2018 and based in Saint Louis, it raised a $23 million Series A in 2023 with Cultivation Capital participating.
iSelect Fund
- Website: iSelect Fund
- Investor Type: Venture Capital Firm
- Investment Interests: AgTech, sustainable food systems, and human health
- Investment Stage: Seed and Series A
iSelect Fund is a venture capital firm founded in 2013 by a team including CEO Carter Williams and COO Dan Schaub. It is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, and invests at the intersection of agriculture, food, and human health.
iSelect invests at the Seed or Series A stage, in equity or debt convertible to equity, and has moved to an evergreen fund structure so it can keep deploying capital without traditional vintage-year constraints. They conduct rigorous screening before placing a company in the Fund. The firm also lets its own accredited investors, family offices, and institutions choose between backing individual companies or taking a diversified portfolio position.
Some of their portfolio companies are:
Benson Hill: Benson Hill is a St. Louis crop improvement company that taps the natural genetic diversity of plants to develop healthier and more sustainable food, combining machine learning and big data with genome editing and plant biology.
Kultevat: Kultevat, also based in St. Louis, combines genetic breeding and chemical process engineering to produce natural rubber from the Russian dandelion in North America.
Kula Bio: Kula Bio develops sustainable nitrogen fertilizer technology aimed at reducing the environmental cost of conventional crop nutrition.
KCRise Fund
- Website: KCRise Fund
- Investor Type: Venture Capital Firm
- Investment Interests: B2B technology
- Investment Stage: Pre-Seed, Seed, and Series A
If your company sits on the western side of the state, KCRise Fund is the one to know. Darcy Howe founded it in 2016 as an initiative of KC Rising, and it remains the venture fund most focused on the Kansas City region. It manages more than $90 million, with corporations, university endowments, family offices, and regional business leaders as its limited partners.
KCRise is a co-investment fund, so it does not lead. It invests side by side with other institutional venture investors in pre-seed, seed, and Series A rounds of at least $1 million, for early-stage technology companies with a strategic connection to the western half of Missouri or the entire state of Kansas. The focus is primarily business-to-business.
Practical takeaway: line up an outside institutional lead first, then bring KCRise in as the local partner. Portfolio companies include BacklotCars, Super Dispatch, Bellwethr, and Generation Esports.
Lewis & Clark Ventures
- Website: Lewis & Clark Ventures
- Investor Type: Venture Capital Firm
- Investment Interests: B2B software
- Investment Stage: Late Seed and Series A
Lewis & Clark Ventures is a St. Louis early-stage venture firm managed by former founders and operators rather than career investors. It was started by serial entrepreneur Tom Hillman on the thesis that strong founders exist well outside the traditional coastal capital centers.
The firm backs B2B software companies from late seed through Series A and typically writes an initial check of $2 million to $3 million, with flexibility in either direction. It looks for founders with a big vision, domain expertise or prior startup experience, and genuine closeness to the problem they are solving.
Portfolio companies include Summersalt, PayGround, Amper Technologies, Springbuk, and Plastomics.
Wrap-Up
Summing up, there are a lot of angel investors whom you can pitch to and secure an investment. However, before you start planning to attend a pitching competition, it is recommended first to see some good examples of a pitch deck, understand the previous investments, and prepare well for an investor meeting. Once your deck is ready, you can use the investor matcher to shortlist the Missouri investors whose stage and sector actually fit your round.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do angel investors in Missouri typically invest?
It varies widely by investor. Signal by NFX lists Kansas City angel Gary Fish with a typical check around $25,000. St. Louis Arch Angels members are encouraged to invest at least $50,000 a year across one or more startups. Missouri venture firms write larger checks: Cultivation Capital starts at $100,000, and Lewis & Clark Ventures typically invests $2 million to $3 million.
Which industries do Missouri investors fund most?
Missouri's investor base clusters around a few strengths. St. Louis firms lean into agtech and plant science (iSelect Fund), life sciences and health tech, geospatial technology, and B2B software (Cultivation Capital, Lewis & Clark Ventures). Kansas City investors skew toward cybersecurity and B2B technology, reflecting the region's security software heritage. You can filter by sector on the Missouri investor list.
How many investors are based in Missouri?
Angel Match currently tracks 400+ investors headquartered in Missouri, with 180+ of them in St. Louis. Across the full database there are 125,000+ investors, including 82,000+ angel and individual investors. Those counts move as the database grows, so check the live filter pages for the current figure.
How do you get in front of Missouri angel investors?
Two routes work best. Apply to a group like the St. Louis Arch Angels, which runs 10 member meetings a year and a formal screening process before you pitch. Or go through the regional ecosystem: pitch competitions, accelerator demo days, and warm introductions from founders already in a fund's portfolio. Cold outreach works better when it references a specific portfolio company.
Should you pitch a Kansas City or a St. Louis investor?
Geography matters more in Missouri than in most states because several funds have explicit regional mandates. KCRise Fund only invests in companies with a strategic connection to the western half of Missouri or the state of Kansas, and it requires an outside institutional lead first. St. Louis firms like Cultivation Capital and iSelect Fund invest nationally but source heavily from their home region.
