Sunnyvale, located at the heart of Silicon Valley, is home to many tech-related startups that generate millions of dollars annually. The city also hosts hundreds of startup events, boosting the entrepreneurial landscape.

However, when securing funding for your startup, selecting the best one that matches your business interests can be difficult.

That is why this article will highlight the list of the top 5 angel investors in Sunnyvale, along with some tips about connecting with them.

Top 5 Angel Investors in Sunnyvale

Following is a list of some of the top angel investors in Sunnyvale.

Plug and Play Ventures

Website: Silicon Valley Venture Capital Fund | Plug and Play Tech Center

Investor Type: Venture Capital Firm

Investment Interests: FinTech, InsurTech, Retail, Smart Cities, and Software.

Investment Stage: Early and Seed

Known as one of the biggest venture capital firms worldwide, Plug and Play VC has funded startups for 17 years. Founded by Saeed Amidi, Ali Safavi and Jackie Hernandez, the network has made over 1,688 investments. With headquarters in Silicon Valley, Plug and Play Ventures is now operating in more than 50 cities and wants to fund startups with the highest growth potential and unique ideas.

During pitch competitions, the investors usually look for ventures that can generate at least 5x ROI and exit successfully. Aside from their investments, Plug and Play also arranges many growth programs and networking events to attract entrepreneurs around the city.

The investment range of Plug and Play Ventures ranges from $25,000 to $1M as they invest in early, seed and late stages. Some of their famous investments are:

PayPal: A digital payment platform that allows individuals and businesses to transfer funds. It is currently one of the largest online payment processors.

Dropbox: A file hosting service that offers cloud storage, file synchronization, personal cloud, and client software.

Lending Club: An American lending company facilitating personal loans, business loans, and financing for elective medical procedures.

Honey: A browser extension that aggregates and automatically applies online coupons on eCommerce websites. Honey was acquired by PayPal in a deal that valued Honey at approximately $4 billion.

Life Science Angels

Website:  Life Science Angels - Investing For Life

Investor Type: Venture Capital Firm

Investment Interests: Healthcare

Investment Stage: Early 

Life Science Angels, aka LS Angels, provides funding to Sunnyvale-based startups. Founded by the famous entrepreneurs Allan May and Casey McGlynn in 2005, the network has funded over 100 startups, investing over $60 Million.

When funding startups, LS Angels takes a very balanced approach, analyzing the startup's growth potential. Even if a venture is in its early stages, the VC firm's main focus is unique ideas with a solid business plan. Aside from regular investors, the network is also sponsored by 15 organizations, allowing LS Angles to fund high capital in deserving startups.

LSA organizes mentorship programs, such as the LSA Fellowship Program, which provides hands-on experience in life science innovation, entrepreneurship, and investing. They also host networking events, including investment dinners, community education seminars, and ad hoc seminars.

The investment range of Life Science Angels ranges from $200,000 to $3M. Notable companies in their portfolio are:

Chimera Bioengineering: A company developing cancer immunotherapies. They focus on creating chimeric antigen receptor T-cells (CAR-Ts) that are reprogrammed immune cells designed to find and destroy cancer cells. Chimera Bioengineering secured $30.7 million in funding.

Nanostim: A developer of miniaturized pacemakers. Nanostim was acquired by St. Jude Medical for $123.5 million, and their product has received the CE Mark.

NuMedii: A company using big data and artificial intelligence to discover new drugs. Their tech product analyzes millions of databases to find connections between drugs and diseases. NuMedii has raised $5.5 million.

Allyx Therapeutics: A biotechnology company working on treatments for central nervous system disorders. They secured $10.1 million in funding.

SK Telecom Ventures

Website: CVC – SK Telecom Americas 

Investor Type: Venture Capital Firm

Investment Interests: Mobile platforms, infrastructures, semiconductors, and enterprise solutions.

Investment Stage: Early and Seed

SK Telecom Ventures is an investment arm of the famous company SK Telecom that funds startups in Sunnyvale. It was founded by Kai Chen in 2008 and has funded 23 startups in total. They usually invest in early and seed-stage startups, focusing on unique ideas that have the potential to solve consumer-faced problems.

To apply for investment, entrepreneurs have to submit an online form. Once the form is accepted, the selected startups are invited to pitch competitions.

Similarly, SK Telecom Ventures seeks to maximize return on investment by focusing on private companies where guidance and access to networks can benefit the startup's financial success.

The investment range of SK Telecom Ventures ranges from $1M to $5M. Some of their famous investments are:

GGWP: GGWP is an esports platform that uses AI to identify and respond to disruptive player behaviour. GGWP raised $10M.

Phantom AI: Phantom AI provides a driving platform that includes computer vision, sensor fusion, and control capabilities. The company aims to democratize advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) to make driving safer and more enjoyable. Phantom AI raised $41.5M in investment at the seed stage.

Pavilion Data Systems, Inc.: Pavilion Data Systems offers high-performance, ultra-low latency data storage solutions at scale. Pavilion Data Systems raised $45M.

SIGFOX: SIGFOX is an IoT-related company that provides connectivity services across various sectors, including energy, utilities, retail, and manufacturing, aiming to connect billions of devices to the internet. SIGFOX raised $100M in investment.

Rhapsody Ventures

Website: Home | Rhapsody Venture Partners (rhapsodyvp.com)

Investor Type: Venture Capital Firm

Investment Interests: Engineering innovations, food, and tech.

Investment Stage: Seed

Rhapsody Ventures is another venture capital firm that is known for its active investments. The network was founded in 2016 by Vincent Lui and has already funded around 30 startups with an average investment ratio of 4 startups funded per year.

While funding startups, Rhapsody Ventures focuses on science startups that solve industrial problems and is known for leading seed rounds. They co-create with the startups they invest in, becoming an extension of their team and helping generate initial customers and partnerships.

Similarly, the network consists of 3 investors and many mentors who guide startups during times when things don't go in the right direction.

The investment range of Rhapsody Ventures ranges from $200,000 to $2M, depending on the startup. Some of their recent portfolio companies are:

SpinDrive: SpinDrive specializes in advanced automatic magnetic bearing control systems that create energy. They raised €3.8M in their Series A round.

Biophilica: A biotech company that produces Treekind™, a sustainable alternative to leather and synthetic competitors. It is recyclable as green waste and home compostable. Rhapsody led the seed round.

Chinova Bioworks: A company that uses mushrooms to protect food and beverage products from spoilage with a natural, clean-label, FDA-approved formulation. They secured funding in a pre-seed round co-led by Rhapsody.

Tender Food: A startup that makes alternative meat using novel plant-based fiber production technology. Rhapsody led the pre-seed round in 2020.

NetApp

Investor Type: Angel Investor

Investment Interests: Tech

NetApp is a global, cloud-led, data-centric software company that also funds startups as a secondary focus. Since its inception, the company has generated massive revenue and has expanded beyond Sunnyvale. Their entrepreneurial success is evident as they also operate in San Jose and Sunnyvale.

When funding startups, NetApp is not a venture capital firm and does not follow a conventional startup funding approach. They usually have networks with VC firms and organize startup events to find the most deserving investment. NetApp also arranges many startup accelerator programs to help startups find an investor with matching interests and portfolios.

NetApp doesn't usually have a fixed investment range. Looking at their past investments, they sometimes fund $500,000 to $1M. Some of their famous portfolio companies are:

MemVerge: MemVerge is developing Memory-Converged Infrastructure. Their flagship product, Memory Machine™ software, virtualizes memory for plug-and-play compatibility with existing applications. MemVerge raised $19M in a Series B round.

Portworx: Portworx is a cloud-native storage and data management company that offers the industry's first storage solution purpose-built for containers. They enable enterprises to manage any database or stateful service on any infrastructure. Portworx raised $27M in a Series C round.

Datos IO: Datos IO provided enterprise-class recovery solutions for scale-out databases and cloud databases. Their RecoverX platform was designed to protect next-generation applications. Datos IO was acquired by Rubrik.

Kazeon Systems: Kazeon Systems developed electronic discovery solutions for litigation support, information security and privacy, governance, risk, and compliance.

Wrap-Up

In a nutshell, angel investors are always interested in funding startups, but it is the entrepreneurs who have to prepare a great pitch deck and pitch accordingly.

Before appearing for screening tests, it is recommended to understand the ways to connect with angel investors. During meetings, try to connect, present your business idea and learn what the investor loves to see in a startup.

Frequently Asked Questions