Created by VentureHacks’ Naval Ravikant and Babak Nivi, AngelList vets startup pitches and distributes them to a list of angel investors. Since launching in February, AngelList has received a lot of praise, from both investors and entrepreneurs, for the work it does in helping startups find early stage funding and helping angel investors find new companies.
Initially an email list, now there’s a whole website devoted to the endeavor. And now, new features will give entrepreneurs even more control over where their pitch is directed.
When you add your startup to AngelList, you will have the option to select the angels you think should see your startup. If you don’t pick them, these angels will not have access to your information. You will be able to search for investors by name, as well as filter the list by fund type (angel, VC), activity (for example, is the angel actively seeking investments), and location.
Why the new feature? According to AngelList, it gives startups more control over who sees their information. “Avoid angels who’ve invested in competitors, keep your pitch hidden while you’re still editing it, avoid VCs, embrace VCs, pitch VCs on your Series A, test out your pitch on half the list first, pitch local investors, et cetera, et cetera.” For most folks, particularly for new entrepreneurs, your best bet may still be to have your pitches go to everyone on the list.
As one person says on Quora, AngelList “adds an amazing amount of value to the community and an increasingly important piece to the Valley. One of the most important factors in a startup ecosystem is matching quality startups with quality capital.” With new features to the site, that quality matching just got a nice little fine-tuning.
