INVESTOR NOTES / 001ANGEL INVESTOR / , United States
KNOW THE INVESTOR. SHARPEN THE PITCH.

Angel investor · United States

Ilkka Paananen.

Recorded investments.
A clearer sense of fit.

Find where your company fits, how rounds are assembled, and what happened after the first investment.

THE ENTRY PATTERN2015–2026
60%

of dated first investments
were at Angel, Pre-Seed or Seed

First investment stage across 37 companies21 Seed, 1 Angel and 15 other-stage entries. Each dot represents one company.
Seed 21Angel 1Other 15

One dot = one company at first recorded investment.

37 companies · 46 recorded equity rounds
Dataset’s latest round 22 May 2026/Latest recorded investment 07 May 2026
THE FOUNDER’S BRIEF

Read the pattern before the pitch.

Written insights from the recorded portfolio, with the evidence linked below.

01

Start with the first entry

Ilkka Paananen has dated investments in 37 companies. 22 first entries were at Angel, Pre-Seed or Seed (59.5%). An early-stage founder can use the sector and stage filters to find comparable companies before approaching the investor.

Explore the evidence ↗
02

Separate activity from reputation

5 first company relationships appear in the latest 24 months, compared with 9 in the preceding window. The latest recorded investment is 2026-05-07. This describes observed activity through 2026-05-22; it does not establish current availability.

Explore the evidence ↗
03

Plan the next financing step

16 of 32 companies with a full 24-month observation window raised another equity round. This investor backed 5 of those companies again within that window. The difference is a reason to research the wider syndicate, rather than assume the same investor will fund the next round.

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04

Use a specific point of relevance

B2C E-Commerce is the largest displayed sector by company count, appearing in 6 portfolio companies; sector tags overlap. 0 first entries carry a recorded lead flag and the median first-round syndicate includes 7 other named backers. Shared rounds are evidence of co-investment, not evidence of an introduction route.

Explore the evidence ↗
01 / THE READOUT

Four signals before you pitch.

Start with observed behavior.
Every rate has a defined denominator.

01 — ROUND CONTEXT
$4.4M–$19M

The middle half of entry rounds

25th–75th percentile across 36 disclosed first rounds. Total round size; the investor’s own cheque is undisclosed.

Size your round ↗
02 — NEW RELATIONSHIPS
5companies

First investments in the last 24 months

22 May 2024–22 May 2026, versus 9 in the preceding 24 months.

See the rhythm ↗
03 — NEXT FINANCING
50%

Another equity round within 24 months

16 of 32 companies with a full observation window. The next round can include any investor.

Follow the path ↗
04 — REPEAT BACKING
16%

This investor invested again within 24 months

5 of the same 32 companies. Build a financing plan around the wider investor market.

Explore co-investors ↗
02 / FIND YOUR FIT

Where does your company sit?

Choose your sector and stage to find
companies he first backed in that space.

YOUR COMPANY

A match means a recorded investment in this category. It does not establish current interest or availability.

37matching companies
$6.1Mmedian first round (36 disclosed)
5first backed in last 24 months

All sectors · All entry stages. Round amounts are total financing, in USD.

Seed

Codewords ↗

Provider of a chat-based platform for building automated workflow solutions

$9.0M total first round
Seed

Gradium ↗

Developer of audio language models delivering natural, expressive voice interactions

$70M total first round
Series A

IXI ↗

Developer of autofocus eyewear with adaptive lenses

$37M total first round
Explore matching portfolio companies ↓

The sector × stage map

First investments · companies can appear in more than one sector
Number of first investments by sector and entry stage. Select a cell to explore companies.
SectorAngelSeedSeries AAll stages
B2C E-Commerce6
FinTech5
Cybersecurity5
Artificial Intelligence4
MarketingTech3
Future of Work3
HRTech2
03 / ROUND DESIGN

The round around the investor.

Use stage-specific financing ranges
to frame the size of your syndicate.

First-round size, by entry stage

USD · middle 50% and median
Angel1 disclosed
$5.0M$5.0M–$5.0M
Seed21 disclosed
$5.0M$2.7M–$6.3M
Series A7 disclosed
$12M$9.0M–$25M
$10K$100K$1M$10M

Logarithmic scale. A dot marks the median; the band spans the 25th–75th percentiles. These are entire rounds, not individual cheques.

04 / WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

One investment. Two different paths.

A subsequent round and repeat backing
answer different fundraising questions.

32
companies with 24 months
of observable history

Raised another equity round

Any investor · within 24 months
50%
16 of 32 companies

Backed again by this investor

A subset of the companies above
15.6%
5 of 32 companies
i

Includes first investments on or before 22 May 2024. 5 newer companies and 0 undated histories are excluded. Follow-up stops at the dataset’s latest round on 22 May 2026. These observations do not measure returns or predict a company’s outcome.

See the stage-by-stage denominators +
First stageEligible companiesNext round ≤24 moSame investor again ≤24 mo
Angel11 / 10 / 1
Seed177 / 174 / 17
Series A73 / 71 / 7
Series B43 / 40 / 4
Series C21 / 20 / 2
Post-IPO11 / 10 / 1
05 / INVESTMENT RHYTHM

New names. Returning relationships.

Separate first investments from later
rounds in companies already backed.

New companiesRepeat rounds

*2026 is partial, through 22 May. Bar height counts first investments + repeat rounds; earlier years are complete calendar periods in this dataset.

06 / THE CO-INVESTOR MAP

Who else belongs on your research list?

Frequent shared rounds suggest a place
to investigate sector and stage alignment.

01
FIRM

Accel

10 shared rounds · 8 companies

Latest shared round Nov 2024
02
FIRM

Firstminute Capital

7 shared rounds · 6 companies

Latest shared round May 2026
03
FIRM

Lifeline Ventures

7 shared rounds · 5 companies

Latest shared round Jun 2024
04
ANGEL

Miki Kuusi ↗

7 shared rounds · 5 companies

Latest shared round Nov 2024
06
FIRM

Seedcamp

5 shared rounds · 5 companies

Latest shared round Dec 2023

Shared rounds establish recorded co-investment. They do not establish a personal connection, introduction route, or current willingness to invest.

07 / THE EVIDENCE

Explore the portfolio.

First investment comes first.
Amounts refer to that entry round.

37 dated companies
Complete dated portfolio, ordered by first investment, newest first.
CompanyFirst backedEntry stageTotal entry roundSame investor again?
May 2026Seed$9.0MNo later round recorded
Dec 2025Seed$70MNo later round recorded
IXI ↗Espoo
Apr 2025Series A$37MNo later round recorded
Taito ↗Helsinki
Nov 2024Seed$2.6MNo later round recorded
Oct 2024Seed$6.0MNo later round recorded
Dec 2023Seed$5.0MNo later round recorded
getpaid ↗Dusseldorf
Oct 2023Seed$6.3MNo later round recorded
Linear ↗San Francisco
Sep 2023Series B$35MNo later round recorded
Jul 2023Seed$25MNo later round recorded
Riot ↗San Francisco
Feb 2023Series A$12MNo later round recorded
Jan 2023Seed$2.7MYes · Jun 2024
BORN ↗London
Jan 2023Seed$2.7MYes · Jun 2024
Instant ↗Amsterdam
Jun 2022Seed$2.1MNo later round recorded
Huuva ↗Helsinki
Jun 2022Seed$5.3MNo later round recorded
kevin. ↗Vilnius
May 2022Series A$65MNo later round recorded
NordVPN ↗New York City
Apr 2022Series C$100MNo later round recorded
Apr 2022Series C$100MNo later round recorded
Gilion ↗Stockholm
Mar 2022Seed$16MYes · Sep 2022
Elo Health ↗San Francisco
Feb 2022Seed$5.0MNo later round recorded
Droppe ↗Helsinki
Feb 2022Seed$2.5MYes · Jun 2024
Flowrite ↗Helsinki
Nov 2021Seed$4.4MNo later round recorded
Nov 2021Seed$4.4MNo later round recorded
Jun 2021Seed$4.4MNo later round recorded
Noice ↗Helsinki
May 2021Angel$5.0MYes · Nov 2023
Apr 2021Series A$8.0MNo later round recorded
Aug 2020Series B$47MNo later round recorded
Whatifi ↗Wellesley
Jun 2020Series A$10MNo later round recorded
Apr 2020Seed$5.5MNo later round recorded
N8n ↗Berlin
Mar 2020Seed$1.5MYes · Apr 2021
Feb 2020Post-IPO$6.5MNo later round recorded
Feb 2020Seed$6.5MNo later round recorded
Feb 2019Series AUndisclosedNo later round recorded
Feb 2019Seed$2.6MNo later round recorded
Dec 2017Series B$5.9MNo later round recorded
Omio ↗Berlin
Dec 2015Series B$45MNo later round recorded
Goqii ↗Redwood City
Nov 2015Series A$13MNo later round recorded
Wolt ↗Helsinki
Nov 2015Series A$2.1MYes · Apr 2016
0 more companies have undated investments

Kept in the 37-company portfolio; excluded from entry-timing calculations.

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