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

Angel investor · Los Altos, United States

Steve Chen.

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 PATTERN2010–2026
63%

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

First investment stage across 24 companies13 Seed, 2 Angel and 9 other-stage entries. Each dot represents one company.
Seed 13Angel 2Other 9

One dot = one company at first recorded investment.

25 companies · 25 recorded equity rounds
Dataset’s latest round 22 May 2026/Latest recorded investment 05 Sep 2024
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

Steve Chen has dated investments in 24 companies. 15 first entries were at Angel, Pre-Seed or Seed (62.5%). An early-stage founder can use the sector and stage filters to find comparable companies before approaching the investor.

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02

Separate activity from reputation

1 first company relationships appear in the latest 24 months, compared with 5 in the preceding window. The latest recorded investment is 2024-09-05. This describes observed activity through 2026-05-22; it does not establish current availability.

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03

Plan the next financing step

10 of 23 companies with a full 24-month observation window raised another equity round. This investor backed 0 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 5 portfolio companies; sector tags overlap. 2 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.

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01 / THE READOUT

Four signals before you pitch.

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

01 — ROUND CONTEXT
$3.3M–$9.9M

The middle half of entry rounds

25th–75th percentile across 19 disclosed first rounds. Total round size; the investor’s own cheque is undisclosed.

Size your round ↗
02 — NEW RELATIONSHIPS
1companies

First investments in the last 24 months

22 May 2024–22 May 2026, versus 5 in the preceding 24 months.

See the rhythm ↗
03 — NEXT FINANCING
44%

Another equity round within 24 months

10 of 23 companies with a full observation window. The next round can include any investor.

Follow the path ↗
04 — REPEAT BACKING
0%

This investor invested again within 24 months

0 of the same 23 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.

24matching companies
$5.0Mmedian first round (19 disclosed)
1first backed in last 24 months

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

Seed

E-Pal ↗

Operator of a platform providing online companions for gaming and chilling

Undisclosed total first round
Seed

Artue ↗

Retailer of artworks

Undisclosed total first round
Seed

AppFlowy ↗

Developer of an open-source workspace for project and knowledge management

$6.4M 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-Commerce5
Gaming2
Loneliness Economy2
Productivity Software2
OTT Video2
MarketingTech2
FinTech2
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
Angel2 disclosed
$1.6M$1.4M–$1.8M
Seed10 disclosed
$3.8M$3.1M–$6.2M
Series A5 disclosed
$15M$14M–$16M
$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.

23
companies with 24 months
of observable history

Raised another equity round

Any investor · within 24 months
43.5%
10 of 23 companies

Backed again by this investor

A subset of the companies above
0%
0 of 23 companies
i

Includes first investments on or before 22 May 2024. 1 newer companies and 1 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
Angel21 / 20 / 2
Seed124 / 120 / 12
Series A53 / 50 / 5
Series B32 / 30 / 3
Series C10 / 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
ANGEL

Kevin Lin ↗

4 shared rounds · 4 companies

Latest shared round Oct 2023
03
FIRM

SignalFire

3 shared rounds · 3 companies

Latest shared round Feb 2021
05
FIRM

Animoca Brands

2 shared rounds · 2 companies

Latest shared round Sep 2024
06
ANGEL

Arek Zarowski

2 shared rounds · 2 companies

Latest shared round Nov 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.

24 dated companies
Complete dated portfolio, ordered by first investment, newest first.
CompanyFirst backedEntry stageTotal entry roundSame investor again?
E-Pal ↗Lake Forest
Sep 2024SeedUndisclosedNo later round recorded
May 2024SeedUndisclosedNo later round recorded
AppFlowy ↗Singapore
Nov 2023Seed$6.4MNo later round recorded
Nov 2023Seed$6.4MNo later round recorded
Forge ↗San Francisco
Oct 2023Seed$11MNo later round recorded
Sep 2022Seed$1.1MNo later round recorded
Polywork ↗New York City
May 2021Seed$3.5MNo later round recorded
Collective ↗San Francisco
May 2021Series A$20MNo later round recorded
January ↗San Francisco
Feb 2021Series B$8.8MNo later round recorded
Vibely ↗San Francisco
Feb 2021Angel$2.0MNo later round recorded
Migo ↗Jakarta
Sep 2020Series BUndisclosedNo later round recorded
Aug 2020Series A$14MNo later round recorded
May 2020Series A$16MNo later round recorded
Apr 2020Seed$5.7MNo later round recorded
Punch List ↗San Francisco
Jan 2020Seed$4.0MNo later round recorded
BlueSpace ↗Sacramento
Dec 2019Seed$3.5MNo later round recorded
Jun 2019Seed$2.5MNo later round recorded
Jun 2019Series A$5.0MNo later round recorded
PlanetScale ↗Mountain View
Dec 2018Seed$3.0MNo later round recorded
Dec 2018Series B$5.0MNo later round recorded
Jun 2018Series CUndisclosedNo later round recorded
honestbee ↗Singapore
Oct 2015Series A$15MNo later round recorded
Optimizely ↗San Francisco
Nov 2010Angel$1.2MNo later round recorded
Crocodoc ↗San Francisco
Jul 2010SeedUndisclosedNo later round recorded
1 more companies have undated investments

Kept in the 25-company portfolio; excluded from entry-timing calculations.

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