Investing in Charlottesville and beyond.

CAN Named Among Most Active Angel Groups in U.S. and in the Southeast Region

• The 2021 HALO Report named CAN the 9th most active angel group in the U.S. by number of closed deals
• Both the 2021 HALO Report and 2018 HALO Report named CAN the #1 most active group in the Southeast region by number of closed deals
• and #2 in it’s 2017 and 2016 Reports and #3 in its 2019 Report
• The Angel Capital Association’s 2019 ACA Angel Funders Report, named CAN the 6th most active group in the US for number of closed deals in 2018 

The Charlottesville Angel Network believes a thriving entrepreneurial culture can be built in Charlottesville. The city has strong innovation, talent and available capital.

We invest to foster a business environment where entrepreneurs grow, thrive and enrich the community. We strive to educate investors and entrepreneurs, and to cultivate and attract new business ideas. With our investment, more companies stay local or join the community. For Charlottesville, that means a more dynamic business environment, new jobs, and a richer community.

CAN members meet monthly to invest as a group in early-stage companies. We raise investment capital on a deal-by-deal basis. When there is enough interest from our members, we create a sole-purpose LLC as an investment vehicle and write a group check from one entity.

CAN invests in seed, angel, and friends & family rounds in promising startups raising less than $5MM. We typically invest $100K – $300K in a round and frequently partner with co-investors on Series A and B rounds.

As with our members’ backgrounds, our investment and industry interests vary widely. Our investment portfolio includes: SAAS, digital healthcare, biotech, consumer products, clean energy, Ed Tech, and more.

We have a soft-spot for Virginia-based companies, over half of our investments are in Virginia, but we are open to great startups wherever they may be. We seek to build strong relationships with the startups we fund, often before we even fund them. We value those relationships more than proximity.

We, as a group and individually, collaborate with numerous other angel groups and funding sources to find the best startups. We also work to champion our investments with our network.

How Does CAN Select Deals?

Our screening committee, comprised of our members, meets monthly to review applications and selects 3 companies to present to CAN members each month.

How to Apply to CAN for Funding:

CAN uses an online angel group platform called Gust.com, which entrepreneurs use to apply to CAN for funding. Entrepreneurs can create a company profile on Gust.com and submit it to CAN and other angel groups.

Apply Now Via Gust

CAN recommends the following resources for entrepreneurs applying for funding and anyone considering membership in our network.