Looking for an angel investor? Here are some of the top we’ve worked with.
Every entrepreneur at some point needs to make a critical decision: what’s the best way to keep financing your business to ensure the long-term vision for the company is achieved. Years ago, there were really only a handful of options for entrepreneurs looking for financing:
- Take out a small business loan
- Seek institutional funding from venture capital firms
- Bootstrap the business using personal funds + company revenue
Over the last 10 years or so, we’ve seen a change in how founders are funding their businesses in the earliest stages. Many creative options have been introduced as alternatives to the above three “standard” methods of financing, including:
- Generous government grants within the technology sector
- The “seed-stage” focused incubators and accelerators
- Crowdfunding platforms
- And lastly, the emerging prominence of the Angel Investor
The term “Angel Investor” gets thrown around a lot nowadays, but you may be asking yourself, what exactly is an Angel Investor?
Angel Investors are high net worth individuals who seek to invest in the earliest stages of a startup’s lifecycle. These investors are usually industry operators who’ve either founded or joined early-stage companies and have likely been a part of a few successful exits themselves. Their risk appetite is usually higher than most standard investors, allowing them to see viable opportunities where others do not.
Why are they important?
Angel Investors have become an important pillar in today’s funding lifecycle for (mostly) technology startups. As Series A fundraises continue to grow in size, the importance of an early “seed-stage” fundraise has also grown as a means to show traction pre-Series A. Angels are a great source for these seed-stage fundraises as their risk appetite and intentions match up nicely with businesses in their infancy. Angels typically invest at these stages due to conviction in the entrepreneur and go on to act as strategic advisors & connectors for that entrepreneur as he or she builds out the business. They are less concerned with short-term ROI as they are with long-term business growth & viability.
For startups based in Armenia, specifically, Angel Investors offer an added level of value. It’s pretty difficult to raise an institutional round of financing in Armenia. Only a handful of companies were founded and raised major venture capital dollars while being based in Armenia. Angels are a great fundraising path to show early business traction without having to worry about finding institutional dollars 6,000 miles from Silicon Valley.
So, what should you look for in an Angel Investor?
Angels add value in a lot of different ways. Most notably, they invest capital into your business. That being said, every Angel has capital — what you should ask yourself is which Angel is the right one for your business. Angels are able to add value in other ways, including:
- Industry experience in your business’ market
- Experience operating a company that (likely) had a successful exit
- Experience as an institutional investor
- Commitment and mentorship
- Connections, connections, connections…
At the end of the day, the true test of an Angel is the likelihood that they will be able to help you get to the next stage of your company, which is likely raising a Series A.
At HIVE Ventures, we’ve had the privilege of investing in many promising companies all over the world, from Armenia to Europe to the US. We’ve also had the privilege of meeting and investing alongside many notable Angel Investors within the Armenian community. We’d like to highlight some of their backgrounds and profiles for you below as examples of what great Angels look like.
So who are some Armenia Angels you’d want on your cap table?
Sorted in alphabetical order by last name.
Armen is the Chief Marketing Officer of Comparably, a leading provider of accurate and comprehensive compensation data for employers. Prior to his time at Comparably, Armen served as COO of eharmony, COO at AOL, and CRO at MyLife.com. As a seasoned internet executive, Armen is able to drive performance, productivity, and profitability through his deep knowledge base and expertise within the technology sector.
Argam is the Senior Vice President of Product & Technology at hitRECord.org, an online community that doubles as a production company. Prior to his time at hitRECord.org, Argam built a massive body of knowledge on all things Product-related. Argam began his career in Product as a PM at Electronic Arts and eventually became the VP of Product at VEVO, PicsArt and Discovery Inc.
Razmig is a serial entrepreneur, who has founded and led two companies within the media space to successful exits: Viki (sold to Rakuten) and Hoodline (sold to NextDoor). With a background in the media industry, beginning with his time at NBC Universal, Razmig merged his knowledge of the technology sector with his background in media to create two unique platforms for content-sharing. Razmig also serves as a Partner at Graph Ventures, an early-stage entrepreneur focused venture firm with 100+ investments.
Adam is the CEO of CYNORA, an emerging materials leader in the global information display industry (focusing mostly on OLED displays). Prior to his time at CYNORA, Adam was a founder or CEO at multiple companies with successful exits, predominantly within the semiconductor space, including Virage Logic, Memoir Systems, and PlasmaSi. Today, Adam is involved in the Armenian community in multiple capacities, including as a board member at AUA and an Angel Investor for various Armenian startups.
Vahe is the President and Co-Founder of ServiceTitan, the first-ever Armenian-led unicorn. ServiceTitan is an all-in-one business management software designed for the home & commercial services business (e.g. plumbers, electricians, etc.). Vahe runs the entire product & engineering organization at ServiceTitan, creating and driving the long-term product vision of the company. As a founder of a highly successful vertical SaaS business, Vahe is able to provide guidance on anything ranging from SaaS business models to business-critical product and engineering strategy.
Christina is a Group Product Manager at Affirm, the leading provider of installment loans for consumers. Prior to her team at Affirm, Christina was a Senior PM at GoFundMe. Christina has been an active Angel Investor for over 4 years, focusing mostly in the fintech, health, and eCommerce industries. Her track record as an Angel includes investments in Carrot, Needed, Pulsar, Habi, Emergence Labs, Kindest, and Bitty.
Nerses is the Senior Vice President of Customer Success at Vineti, a San-Francisco based cell and gene therapy software and analytics company. Prior to his role at Vineti, Nerses was the Director of Engineering and Director of Growth Analytics at Viki, a software platform that was successfully acquired by Rakuten in 2013. Nerses is actively involved in the Armenian community as one of the leaders of HyeTech, a platform for Armenians in technology to meet, exchange knowledge, and partner with one another.
Hovig is the Founder and former CTO of SADA systems, a premier cloud solutions provider that specializes in technology consulting, IT services, application development, and managed services. Hovig ran SADA systems with his wife, Annie, for over 20 years, gaining a wealth of knowledge on starting and scaling a business. Today, Hovig serves as Founding Chairman at SADA systems.
Patrick is the Co-Founder & CEO of Raleigh & Drake (RAD), a discovery platform that delivers curated travel experiences all over the world. Prior to his time at RAD, Patrick was a pioneer in digital design and innovation for the automotive & fashion industry, with a client list ranging from Mercedes-Benz to LVMH to Target. Patrick is also the Founder of ONEArmenia, a charitable organization focusing on creating sustainable projects throughout Armenia.
Vache currently works as a Senior member of Netflix’s R&D team, focusing on creating and optimizing Client Delivery for the platform. Prior to Netflix, Vache’s professional experience includes time at both Lockheed Martin (Space Systems) and Apple. Throughout his professional career, Vache has worked at three of the most successful companies within the technology industry which have enabled him to understand how robust business work at scale. As an emerging Angel Investor, Vache most recently invested in Wirestock, one of HIVE’s latest investments.
Magdalena has been a driving force in Silicon Valley for more than 30 years and has been on the cutting-edge of technology as a serial entrepreneur (including CyberCash and MarketPay) and as an investor (founder of Broadway Angels and former GP at US Venture Partners. Perhaps most notably, Magdalena was the founding board member and first investor of Salesforce which she helped take from inception to IPO. Magdalena is highly active as an Angel Investor and the wealth of experience she brings to the table is second to none.
There are no doubt many more Armenian Angels throughout the world. We’d love to partner with any Angel Investor that’s interested in investing in the Armenian technology ecosystem. Please drop us a note at team@hivefund.co if you’re interested in joining our HIVE Angels network!
