Woman and multicultural founders are often judged with exceeding scrutiny. That's why it's important to find angel investors with a proven history of investing in diverse founder teams, such as those below.
In this article, we rank angel investors with the highest investing rates in women and founders of color according to available Crunchbase data.
We used the ratio of these angels' diversity investments to the total number of their investments, or "Diversity Investment Rate," as a measure of their willingness to invest in women and diverse founders. We also looked at the success of their portfolio as measured by their companies' exit rate.
Assuming that diverse founders value both the angel investors' propensity to invest in folks like them and to help them succeed, we combined those two factors in a "combined score," which is how we arrived at our ranking of angels. Note that we only looked at angels with at least 20 investments since these ratios are much less meaningful for very small portfolios.
Without further ado, here are the top angel investors for women and diverse founders.
Top 50 Angels Investing in Women and Founders of Color
Topping our list of top angel investors for women and founders of color is the late Tony Hsieh. Although the startup community lost Tony some time ago, we decided to keep him on this list as a tribute to his amazing work with founders. Thank you, Tony! You continue to inspire us!
Not including Tony Hsieh, Julie McDermott is the top angel investing in women and founders of color! Rounding out the top three stops are also Marissa Mayer and Joanne Wilson.
| Rank |
Angel Investor |
Diversity Investment Rate |
Exit Rate |
Combined Score |
| 1 |
Tony Hsieh |
46.4% |
63.6% |
0.86 |
| 2 |
Julie McDermott |
71.4% |
10.5% |
0.84 |
| 3 |
Marissa Mayer |
50.0% |
47.8% |
0.81 |
| 4 |
Joanne Wilson |
57.5% |
22.0% |
0.75 |
| 5 |
Troy Carter |
39.1% |
52.2% |
0.71 |
| 6 |
Brian Lee |
33.3% |
58.3% |
0.68 |
| 7 |
Ullas Naik |
38.6% |
46.2% |
0.67 |
| 8 |
Jonathan Abrams |
36.4% |
50.0% |
0.67 |
| 9 |
Chung Ng |
36.4% |
47.4% |
0.66 |
| 10 |
Dave Morin |
31.1% |
56.9% |
0.65 |
| 11 |
Ellen Levy |
45.2% |
27.6% |
0.64 |
| 12 |
Matthew Luckett |
30.4% |
55.6% |
0.64 |
| 13 |
Jesse Robbins |
28.6% |
58.8% |
0.63 |
| 14 |
Joe Greenstein |
36.4% |
40.9% |
0.62 |
| 15 |
Deborah Quazzo |
48.1% |
16.7% |
0.62 |
| 16 |
Andy Rankin |
23.8% |
65.0% |
0.62 |
| 17 |
Geoff Judge |
33.3% |
45.5% |
0.61 |
| 18 |
James Pallotta |
33.3% |
44.4% |
0.61 |
| 19 |
Allen Morgan |
23.8% |
63.2% |
0.61 |
| 20 |
Chris M. Willliams |
41.7% |
27.3% |
0.60 |
| 21 |
Dave McClure |
28.8% |
51.9% |
0.60 |
| 22 |
Ben Narasin |
29.6% |
50.0% |
0.60 |
| 23 |
Ron Suber |
31.8% |
44.4% |
0.59 |
| 24 |
Pejman Nozad |
21.7% |
63.6% |
0.59 |
| 25 |
Caterina Fake |
31.0% |
44.0% |
0.58 |
| 26 |
Keith Rabois |
20.6% |
64.5% |
0.58 |
| 27 |
Payam Zamani |
37.5% |
30.8% |
0.58 |
| 28 |
Mark Leslie |
34.6% |
36.4% |
0.58 |
| 29 |
Andrew Mitchell |
30.8% |
43.8% |
0.58 |
| 30 |
Erik Moore |
33.3% |
38.1% |
0.57 |
| 31 |
Marc Andreessen |
14.6% |
75.0% |
0.57 |
| 32 |
Mitchell Kapor |
23.6% |
56.9% |
0.57 |
| 33 |
Erik Blachford |
28.0% |
47.8% |
0.57 |
| 34 |
Paul Sethi |
29.4% |
44.8% |
0.57 |
| 35 |
David Tisch |
22.5% |
58.5% |
0.57 |
| 36 |
Emmett Shear |
42.3% |
17.4% |
0.56 |
| 37 |
Paige Craig |
27.7% |
46.3% |
0.56 |
| 38 |
Shervin Pishevar |
24.5% |
51.7% |
0.55 |
| 39 |
Adeyemi Ajao |
24.2% |
51.6% |
0.55 |
| 40 |
Jonathan Keidan |
34.0% |
31.7% |
0.54 |
| 41 |
Kal Vepuri |
36.1% |
27.3% |
0.54 |
| 42 |
Baron Davis |
38.9% |
21.6% |
0.54 |
| 43 |
Farzad Nazem |
19.0% |
61.1% |
0.54 |
| 44 |
Clark Landry |
33.7% |
30.9% |
0.54 |
| 45 |
Benjamin Ling |
25.3% |
47.2% |
0.53 |
| 46 |
Lee Linden |
28.8% |
39.7% |
0.53 |
| 47 |
Michael Kassan |
28.6% |
40.0% |
0.53 |
| 48 |
Bradley C. Harrison |
26.0% |
44.4% |
0.53 |
| 49 |
Reid Hoffman |
24.1% |
48.0% |
0.53 |
| 50 |
Ben Orthlieb |
40.9% |
13.6% |
0.52 |
Data via Crunchbase
It's interesting to note that the investors at the top of the above list have moderate portfolios, usually 20-30 investments.
Top 50 Angel Investors by Diversity Investment Rate
Looking at just the diversity investment rate of angel investors with at least 20 investments, we get the following ranking:
| Rank |
Angel Investor |
Number of Investments |
Number of Diversity Investments |
Diversity Investment Rate |
| 1 | Julie McDermott | 21 | 15 | 71.4% |
| 2 | Joanne Wilson | 73 | 42 | 57.5% |
| 3 | Marissa Mayer | 28 | 14 | 50.0% |
| 4 | Deborah Quazzo | 27 | 13 | 48.1% |
| 5 | Tony Hsieh | 28 | 13 | 46.4% |
| 6 | Ellen Levy | 31 | 14 | 45.2% |
| 7 | Emmett Shear | 26 | 11 | 42.3% |
| 8 | Chris M. Williams | 24 | 10 | 41.7% |
| 9 | Chloe Sladden | 24 | 10 | 41.7% |
| 10 | Ben Orthlieb | 22 | 9 | 40.9% |
| 11 | Jeff Dean | 33 | 13 | 39.4% |
| 12 | Troy Carter | 23 | 9 | 39.1% |
| 13 | Baron Davis | 54 | 21 | 38.9% |
| 14 | Ullas Naik | 44 | 17 | 38.6% |
| 15 | Payam Zamani | 40 | 15 | 37.5% |
| 16 | Andy Dunn | 32 | 12 | 37.5% |
| 17 | Claire Hughes Johnson | 24 | 9 | 37.5% |
| 18 | Julia Hartz | 30 | 11 | 36.7% |
| 19 | Jonathan Abrams | 22 | 8 | 36.4% |
| 20 | Chung Ng | 22 | 8 | 36.4% |
| 21 | Joe Greenstein | 22 | 8 | 36.4% |
| 22 | Andre Iguodala | 22 | 8 | 36.4% |
| 23 | Kal Vepuri | 36 | 13 | 36.1% |
| 24 | Anne Wojcicki | 51 | 18 | 35.3% |
| 25 | Mark Leslie | 26 | 9 | 34.6% |
| 26 | Jonathan Keidan | 53 | 18 | 34.0% |
| 27 | Clark Landry | 101 | 34 | 33.7% |
| 28 | Brian Lee | 39 | 13 | 33.3% |
| 29 | James Pallotta | 30 | 10 | 33.3% |
| 30 | Geoff Judge | 24 | 8 | 33.3% |
| 31 | Erik Moore | 24 | 8 | 33.3% |
| 32 | Holly Liu | 24 | 8 | 33.3% |
| 33 | Sean Rad | 21 | 7 | 33.3% |
| 34 | Drew Houston | 31 | 10 | 32.3% |
| 35 | David Carrico | 25 | 8 | 32.0% |
| 36 | Ron Suber | 22 | 7 | 31.8% |
| 37 | Neil Parikh | 22 | 7 | 31.8% |
| 38 | Dave Morin | 61 | 19 | 31.1% |
| 39 | Caterina Fake | 29 | 9 | 31.0% |
| 40 | Andrew Mitchell | 26 | 8 | 30.8% |
| 41 | Matthew Luckett | 23 | 7 | 30.4% |
| 42 | Shiva Rajaraman | 23 | 7 | 30.4% |
| 43 | Alex Pattis | 23 | 7 | 30.4% |
| 44 | Ben Narasin | 27 | 8 | 29.6% |
| 45 | Semyon Dukach | 27 | 8 | 29.6% |
| 46 | Nasir Jones | 44 | 13 | 29.5% |
| 47 | Paul Sethi | 34 | 10 | 29.4% |
| 48 | Tony Robbins | 24 | 7 | 29.2% |
| 49 | Jack Dorsey | 31 | 9 | 29.0% |
| 50 | Milad Alucozai | 31 | 9 | 29.0% |
Data via Crunchbase
Julie McDermott, Joanne Wilson, and Marissa Mayer have the three highest rates of diversity investments in their portfolio. Way to go!
Top 50 Angel Investors by Total Number of Diversity Investments
And finally, looking just at those angels with the most investments in founders of color or women, we have the following ranking:
| Rank |
Angel Investor |
Number of Investments |
Number of Diversity Investments |
Diversity Investment Rate |
| 1 | Edward Lando | 436 | 56 | 12.8% |
| 2 | Mark Cuban | 248 | 46 | 18.5% |
| 3 | Joanne Wilson | 734 | 25 | 7.5% |
| 4 | Marc Benioff | 183 | 40 | 21.9% |
| 5 | Daniel Curran | 185 | 40 | 21.6% |
| 6 | Fabrice Grinda | 257 | 39 | 15.2% |
| 7 | Shervin Pishevar | 151 | 37 | 24.5% |
| 8 | Clark Landry | 101 | 34 | 33.7% |
| 9 | Elad Gil | 196 | 34 | 17.3% |
| 10 | Paul Buchheit | 171 | 33 | 19.3% |
| 11 | Scott Belsky | 201 | 33 | 16.4% |
| 12 | Alexis Ohanian | 167 | 31 | 18.6% |
| 13 | Louis Beryl | 116 | 30 | 25.9% |
| 14 | Wei Guo | 145 | 29 | 20.0% |
| 15 | Wayne Chang | 90 | 26 | 28.9% |
| 16 | Kevin Moore | 93 | 26 | 28.0% |
| 17 | Kevin Hartz | 96 | 26 | 27.1% |
| 18 | Scott Banister | 150 | 24 | 16.0% |
| 19 | JaMes Sowers | 80 | 23 | 28.8% |
| 20 | Kevin Mahaffey | 119 | 22 | 18.5% |
| 21 | Esther Dyson | 123 | 22 | 17.9% |
| 22 | Baron Davis | 54 | 21 | 38.9% |
| 23 | Lee Linden | 73 | 21 | 28.8% |
| 24 | Reid Hoffman | 87 | 21 | 24.1% |
| 25 | Bradley Horowitz | 92 | 21 | 22.8% |
| 26 | David Tisch | 89 | 20 | 22.5% |
| 27 | Kevin Lin | 108 | 20 | 18.5% |
| 28 | Dave Morin | 61 | 19 | 31.1% |
| 29 | Benjamin Ling | 75 | 19 | 25.3% |
| 30 | Tim Draper | 107 | 19 | 17.8% |
| 31 | Gokul Rajaram | 190 | 19 | 10.0% |
| 32 | Naval Ravikant | 264 | 19 | 7.2% |
| 33 | Anne Wojcicki | 511 | 18 | 3.5% |
| 34 | Jonathan Keidan | 531 | 18 | 3.4% |
| 35 | Sahin Boydas | 69 | 18 | 26.1% |
| 36 | Cyan Banister | 103 | 18 | 17.5% |
| 37 | Lachy Groom | 110 | 18 | 16.4% |
| 38 | Sam Altman | 111 | 18 | 16.2% |
| 39 | Ullas Naik | 44 | 17 | 38.6% |
| 40 | Dave McClure | 59 | 17 | 28.8% |
| 41 | Eric Schmidt | 59 | 17 | 28.8% |
| 42 | Bryan Rosenblatt | 68 | 17 | 25.0% |
| 43 | Justin Kan | 78 | 17 | 21.8% |
| 44 | Justin Mateen | 134 | 17 | 12.7% |
| 45 | Jon Oringer | 149 | 17 | 11.4% |
| 46 | Max Levchin | 102 | 16 | 15.7% |
| 47 | Tom Williams | 117 | 16 | 13.7% |
| 48 | Julie McDermott | 211 | 15 | 7.1% |
| 49 | Payam Zamani | 40 | 15 | 37.5% |
| 50 | Avichal Garg | 61 | 15 | 24.6% |
Data via Crunchbase
Once again, those angels with the biggest portfolios don't necessarily have the highest diversity investment rates.
Target Less Active Angels
Perhaps the most interesting finding of our analysis is that those angels with the most angel investments seem to also have among the lowest diversity investment rates.
Out of about 900 investors in our data set, the most active angel investors cluster around the middle of the list with regard to their diversity investment rate. Incidentally, many of the most active angels also tend to have mediocre exit rates of their portfolio companies.
What does this mean for female founders and founders of color?
Perhaps the best investors for diverse founders are those with a moderate level of activity rather than the most active and often most well-known ones.
An Important Caveat on the Data Set
As with all data, there are likely some missed or inaccurate data points. All data for this analysis came from Crunchbase, and it seems accurate enough for comparative purposes. However, I would not worry too much about whether the 26th ranked investor should really be in the 25th spot, for example.
It's worth noting that this data is from Crunchbase, which classifies "Diversity Investments" as those in startups founded or led by individuals that identify as Black or African American, Native American, Middle Eastern/North African, South Asia, East Asian, Southeast Asian, Pacific Islander, or Woman. While Black, Latinx, and female founders seem to be fairly accurately recorded in the dataset, other groups are clearly undercounted from a spot check we performed.
Conclusion
Underrepresented founders face enough hurdles in their journey, and hopefully, this list is a good starting point for those of you looking for angel investors that will evaluate you and your startup fairly.
Also, be sure to check out our mega guide for finding and pitching angel investors.
As always, I look forward to your comments and feedback on this list!
