Investing in Charlottesville and beyond.

CAN is a growing group of nearly 70 accredited investors and family offices. We are independent investors who make our own independent investment decisions. We are successful male and female executives, entrepreneurs, scientists, and engineers. We are individually and collectively eager to apply our skills and put our connections and capital to work to help entrepreneurs succeed.

We are not a fund. Our members make no commitment to invest and are not charged a carry or management fee.

CAN Named Among Most Active Groups in US and in Southeast Region

According to the Angel Capital Association’s 2019 ACA Angel Funders Report, CAN was named the 6th most active group in the US for number of closed deals in 2018. 

Further, the 2018 HALO Report from the Angel Resource Institute named CAN the most active group in the Southeast region by number of deals in 2018 and among the most active in the region in both the 2017 and 2016 HALO Reports.

CAN was also mentioned in Virginia Business and C-Ville and has been featured in the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Business Hall of Fame magazine.

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.