It's no secret that Silicon Valley has more resources to build a company than anywhere else in the world. This is an area that has produced many of the world's fastest-growing companies and is positioned to continue that trend.
One of the best reasons to build a startup in Silicon Valley is the vast number of funding resources in the city. If you’re looking for investment for your startup in Silicon Valley, then check out this massive list of some of the most important funding sources. Whether you're an idea-stage company in search of angel investors/accelerators or you're preparing to raise your Series C, our guide can help you find funding sources.
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Early Stage Funding in Silicon Valley
Notable Seed Accelerators in Silicon Valley
A "seed accelerator" is a cohort-based program that typically accepts teams (not solo-founders) with a product (functional prototype or live product) and some form of traction (for example, user, revenue, or team growth). If accepted to a seed-accelerator, a company typically receives a small investment ($15,000-$150,000) in exchange for equity (6-10%). The goal of a seed-accelerator is to help companies accelerate their product or user growth during the program (typically 3-6 months) in order to raise a proper Angel or Seed Round of funding at the "Demo Day" that concludes the program.
- 500 Startups
- Alchemist Accelerator
- AngelPad
- BlackBox Accelerate
- Boost
- Citrix Startup Accelerator
- Dogpatch Labs
- Gateway Incubator
- German Accelerator
- i/o Ventures
- Imagine K12
- Manos Accelerator
- Matter
- Momentum
- One Traction Accelerator
- Orange Fab
- PITME Labs
- Plug and Play Tech Center
- Rock Health
- SVB Accelerator
- Semantic Seed
- StartX
- Tandem
- TiE Launchpad
- UpWest Labs
- Women's Startup Lab
Notable Angel Investors in Silicon Valley
Angel investors are people that typically invest their personal capital in early-stage startups or entrepreneurs, and generally provide only a small one-time investment to help the business grow. They generally provide more favorable terms compared to other types of investors, since they usually invest in the earliest stages of a business, and are more focused on helping startups build a product instead of generating a profit. Angel investors sometimes go by other names, including “informal investors”, “angel funders”, “private investors”, “seed investors”, and “business angels”. Many angel investors are also professional investors and run more advanced venture funds.
- Adeo Ressi
- Alexis Ohanian
- Andrea Zurek
- Aydin Senkut
- Benjamin Ling
- Biz Stone
- Bobby Yazdani
- Chris Sacca
- Christine Tsai
- Cyan Banister
- Dave McClure
- Dave Morin
- David Cohen
- Eric Reis
- Evan Williams
- Felix Shpilman
- Garry Tan
- Gil Penchina
- Jason Calacanis
- Jeff Clavier
- Joel Yarmon
- Josh Kopelman
- Joshua Schachter
- Keith Rabois
- Kevin Colleran
- Kevin Rose
- Marc Andreessen
- Marissa Mayer
- Matt Ocko
- Max Levchin
- Mitch Kapor
- Morris Wheeler
- Naval Ravikant
- Paige Craig
- Parker Thompson
- Paul Buchheit
- Paul Singh
- Pejman Nozad
- Peter Kellner
- Reid Hoffman
- Scott and Cyan Banister
- Sean Percival
- Shervin Pishevar
- Thomas Korte
- Tim Draper
- Tim Ferriss
- Tim O'Reilly
- Tom Fallows
- Ullas Naik
- Zachary Aarons
Notable Angel Investor Groups and Events in Silicon Valley
Angel investor groups are networks, or syndicates, of angel investors who pool their resources together to invest more money than would typically be issued with a private angel investment. Most angel networks focus their efforts on sectors or verticals in which members have experience or knowledge, although they are usually open to investments in other areas. In general, investors in groups contribute funds to the group, and a professional syndicate management team chooses the investments. The resources below are both formal angel investor groups, and also events and networks that informally gather many angel investors.
- Angel's Forum
- Astia Angels
- Band of Angels
- F50
- Golden Seeds Angel Investor Network
- Joint Venture Silicon Valley
- Keiretsu Forum
- Life Science Angels
- Open Silicon Valley Forum
- SF Angels Group
- Sand Hill Angels
- Seed Forum
- Silicon Valley Forum
- Silicon Valley Investment Forum
- Silicon Valley Open Doors
- Silicon Valley Technology Innovation & Entrepreneurship Forum
- Startup Teahouse Investor Forum
- TiE Angels Silicon Valley
- US Angel Investors
Growth Stage Funding
Notable Venture Capital Firms in Silicon Valley
Venture Capital ("VC") firms provide startup or growth equity capital and/or loan capital to promising ventures for returns that are higher than market interest rates, and typically focus on later stage companies. VC firms only invest in companies that have long-term growth potential of at least 10X their investment, and that already have considerable traction (very fast revenue or user growth), a strong team, and a viable product or service. Because of these high standards, generally less than .1% of businesses are funded by venture capital.
There are also many different types of VC firms. The first (and lowest) funding level for VCs is typically called a "Seed Round", which is appropriate for smaller companies that have just recently generated traction and need capital to fuel the fire of growth. After that, rounds of subsequent funding are categorized by letter ("Series-A", "Series-B", "Series-C", and so on), with the investment amount (and maturity of the business receiving funding) getting larger as the letters progress down the alphabet. Some firms invest across many (or all) of these types of rounds, but most specifically focus on one or two of these stages.
- Accel Partners
- Andreessen Horowitz
- August Capital
- Benchmark Capital
- Bessemer Venture Partners
- Canaan Partners
- DFJ Venture
- Emergence Capital
- First Round Capital
- Founders Fund
- General Catalyst Partners
- Google Ventures
- Greylock Partners
- Highland Capital Partners
- Innovation Endeavors
- Javelin Venture Partners
- Khosla Ventures
- Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers
- Learn Capital
- Lightspeed Venture Partners
- Matrix Partners
- Menlo Ventures
- New Enterprise Associates
- Norwest Venture Partners
- Owl Ventures
- Reach Capital
- RRE Ventures
- Sequoia Capital
- Social Capital
- Spark Capital
- Transmedia Capital
- True Ventures
- Venrock
Are you a solo-founder, or is your company or idea too early for some of these funding options?
The Founder Institute is an idea-stage accelerator that works with solo-entrepreneurs, and teams, during the earliest stages of building a business. Through an intensive 3.5 month program, FI participants build their business through a proven structured process, and receive feedback and assistance from over 30+ successful entrepreneurs and investors in Silicon Valley. Upon completing the program, Graduates join a global network of entrepreneurs and receive ongoing help to get funding and build their business. FI Graduates have raised over $1.85BN in funding, and are building some of the world's fastest growing companies.
Learn more about the Founder Institute at FI.co, join a free startup event in Silicon Valley, or apply to build a startup in Silicon Valley today.
