As the 11th largest city in California, Stockton is often underestimated regarding startups and investors.

Surprisingly, Stockton is backed by some of the most famous names in the startup industry, who aren’t just funding startups but are providing them with mentorship programs as well.

However, a simple list with names of different angel investors and VC firms won’t be enough for you to pitch to these angel investors.

That is why we have prepared the list of the Top 3 Angel investors in Stockton, along with some important tips.

Top 3 Angel Investors in Stockton

Before we jump onto the list of top angel investors in Stockton, always remember a golden point of “Double Checks.”

When pitching an investor, you need to show confidence and have strong research. While all of the Venture Capital firms have been properly researched and presented to you with legit information, it is important to double-check through their official websites before you move on pitching investors.

So, with no further delay, here is the list of the Top 3 Angel Investors in Stockton.

Tech Coast Angels

Website: Tech Coast Angels 

Investor Type: Venture Capital Firm

Investment Interests: Tech, Healthcare, Media, Finance, Food, Consumer products and fashion.

With a goal of helping startups gather funding, Tech Coast Angels was founded in 1997 by Luis Villalobos and has funded hundreds of startups ever since. The network only focused on tech and consumer products-related startups in its early years.

However, Tech Coast Angels currently have a huge team, and they are willing to fund most startups based on their idea and growth potential. Discussing screening tests, Tech Coast Angels has a huge team of investors that evaluate various things in a startup. 

In a team of around 600 members, hundreds of investors operate in different states and cities, so it isn’t impossible to predict what kind of questions you might face. Generally, Tech Coast Angels is highly focused on the growth potential of the startup, so you should be expecting questions likewise.

Once a startup has cleared the screening tests, Tech Coast Angels provide them with the required funding and one of the best mentors worldwide. These mentors help startups make better decisions and guide them through different stages of a startup.

Moreover, Tech Coast Angels also hosts many networking events and accelerator programs. For example, some of their most famous events are:

The investment range of Tech Coast Angels ranges from $1M to $10M, depending on the startup’s sector. Among many of their past investments, recent portfolio companies are:

Abintus Bio: They are pursuing in vivo CART products that directly reprogram immune cells from within their native environment using a proprietary viral platform technology.

AgTools Inc: This is a food supply SaaS platform offering real-time intelligence.

Aligned Carbon: They manufacture carbon nanotubes for integrated circuit foundries.

Blackdot: They have created the world’s first automatic tattoo machine.

18/8 Fine Men’s Salons: They are the creators of the fine men’s category of prestige salons, ace barbers, and mobile barbers.

Upfront Ventures

Website: Upfront Ventures

Investor Type: Venture Capital Firm

Investment Interests: Tech, E-Commerce, Healthcare and Food.

Upfront Ventures is also one of the prominent Venture Capital firms in California. 

The network was founded in 1996 by the famous investors Yves Sisteron, Steven Dietz, and Steve Lebow. In the starting stages, Upfront Ventures invested in tech-related startups, providing them with mentorship as well as funding.

Similarly, after nearly three decades, the firm has expanded its team of investors and has diverse investment interests. As for screening test, Upfront Ventures conduct one of the most rigorous pitch competitions comparatively. The team of investors asks tough questions to the startup related to their on-field experience, startup achievements, growth potential, and things that set them apart from the competition.

Aside from funding, Upfront Ventures also provides mentorship programs to its portfolio and non-portfolio companies. The investment range of Upfront Ventures depends on the startup’s field and its growth potential. Some of their recent portfolio companies include:

Parachute Home: They create modern bedding, bath, and decor essentials for a more comfortable home.

Apeel Sciences: This company creates edible products from natural plant extracts that allow growers to reduce reliance on pesticides.

GOAT: The world’s largest marketplace for buying and selling authentic sneakers.

Invoca: The recognized leader in Conversation Intelligence AI that enables marketing, e-commerce, and contact center teams to generate revenue growth by unlocking actionable insights from customer conversations.

Greycroft Partners

Website: Greycroft: Venture capital and technology investments

Investor Type: Venture Capital Firm

Investment Interests: Tech, IT, E-Commerce, Fintech, Healthcare, Media, Games, and more.

Greycroft Partners is one of the most active investors in California. The network was founded by Alan Patricof, Dana Settle, and Ian Sigalow in 2006. Since its inception, the network has funded more than 400 startups and is looking for more promising ventures.

The investment criterion of Greycroft Partners is quite unique from other investors. While most investors look for massive growth potential, Greycroft Partners is more focused on startups with unique ideas. 

During the screening tests, the investors ask questions related to positive market impact, estimated ROI, team achievements, and market experience.

And since the network invests all over the US, they have a team of mentors that provide the best guidance to their portfolio companies.

The investment range of Greycroft Ventures ranges from $500,000 up to several million dollars, depending on the startup. Some of its recent portfolio companies are:

Acorns: Acorns is a fintech company that specializes in micro-investing and robo-advice. It rounds up a debit or credit card purchase made on a linked card to the nearest dollar and invests the change on behalf of the member.

App Annie: a platform for application classification, analysis, and market intelligence, especially for games and applications. 

Boxed: An e-commerce retailer and an enabler that provides bulk pantry consumables, such as groceries, snacks, beverages, and cleaning products.

Braintree: A company that deals in mobile and web payment systems for e-commerce companies. (Now acquired by PayPal)

Buddy Media: A startup that develops social enterprise software for advertising services. 

How To Pitch to Angel Investors?

Now that you have the names of some of the most active angel investors in Stockton, you must be thinking ‘How to pitch to these investors?”

Well, pitching to angel investors is more of a practical checklist rather than a one-line secret. However, I will be listing some points that can help you pitch to angel investors.

1. Be Confident:

The most important point when pitching to angel investors is your confidence. Just as mentioned before, whenever you’re going for a pitch competition, ensure all of your gathered data about the investor is 100 percent accurate.

Moreover, a great pitch deck also plays a huge role in pitching to angel investors, which I will explain in the final part of our article.

2. Maintain A Warm Introduction:

Getting a warm introduction to angel investors is possible through 2 common ways.

In both ways, you must secure a warm introduction by explaining your startup, how you dream of making it a future brand, and several other strategies.

3. A Great Pitch Deck:

Your pitch deck is the prime focus of angel investors. When preparing one, always remember to 

Wrap-Up

Even if you have implemented all possible strategies but still couldn’t manage to secure an investment, don’t get demotivated so fast. Angel investors are always careful with their investments and want to invest in the startups that have the highest growth potential.

It is possible that your startup couldn’t align with their requirements, and they didn’t provide you with the funding. 

Regardless of the outcome, always learn from your mistakes and pitch to related angel investors until you achieve what you dreamt of.

Frequently Asked Questions