TBD Angels set out nearly a year ago with a singular, straightforward mission: bring together a group of experienced founders and operators who want to invest collaboratively, and in a diverse set of startups.
It started over a pizza lunch in February 2020, where a handful of Boston-area angel investors met to discuss their investment prospects. At the table were angel investors who had recently sold or exited their own ventures: David Chang had recently left Gradifi after its sale to E*TRADE, and Joshua Summers had just sold Clypd to AT&T's Xandr.
"All these people within the same sort of sphere were suddenly in a space where they had a little more time and some capital," Chang said. "Over lunch, we said the existing angel groups weren't exactly what we were looking for. We were like, 'Is there another way we can collectively get together angel investments?'"
Enter TBD Angels. Officially launched on April 1 of last year, TBD Angels brought together about two dozen angel investors who would pool their money to invest in startups across a wide variety of sectors: health tech, martech, clean energy and financial services, to name a few. Rather than having its members write individual checks, TBD Angels invests via special-purpose vehicles, or business entities based around each investment, which also helps lower the investment floor.
By late November, the group had funded 14 seed-stage startups, with check sizes ranging from $50,000 to $230,000, Chang said.
Unlike traditional angel groups, TBD Angels doesn't have a complicated screening process for founders looking to raise money. Instead, the group works asynchronously. Angels meet virtually with startups throughout the month, then check in with their fellow investors over tools like Slack. It removes some red tape, Chang said, and speeds up the process for startups.
"The value proposition for what we're doing is we're going to enable members to save time," Chang said. "We're trying to tighten that process by leveraging each other's expertise better."
Launching during the pandemic actually proved to be a boon for TBD Angels. Because the group was just getting off the ground, there was "nothing to tear apart," Chang said. Additionally, the necessary reliance on remote communication tools has fueled the group's asynchronous nature.
TBD Angels launched with 24 angel investors, including Chang, Summers, fintech entrepreneur Zoë Barry and three-time CEO and advisor Emily Green. The group maintains a fairly even gender split, and most of the investors are based in Boston or at least tied to the city's startup scene.
TBD Angels is not actively recruiting new members, but its profile has quickly grown. The group collaborated with Venture Lane on a pitch workshop in October and keeps an active blog detailing its investments. However, the investors are all part-time. Barry is in the process of launching a new fintech startup. Green is a volunteer with Boston's chapter of All Raise. Chang, for his part, still works with Babson College students and has recently begun working as the U.S. investment director for a group called The Venture City.
"We thought this group would just be more fun," Chang said. "We're operators. Let's brainstorm. Let's move fast and save things. We wanted to have fun and form bonds with other folks in the tech ecosystem. Think of it as a team sport."
