Brian Nichols is the co-founder of Angel Squad, a community where you’ll learn how to angel invest and get a chance to invest as little as $1k into Hustle Fund's top performing early-stage startups

When a venture capital fund invests in a company, they're committing capital backed by months of sourcing, evaluation, and due diligence. The opportunity to invest alongside them, seeing the same deal at the same terms, represents access to institutional-quality deal flow that individual investors historically couldn't reach.

This is how individual co-investment with VC funds actually works and how to access it.

What VC Co-Investment Actually Means

Co-investment means investing in the same company, at the same time, on the same terms as a venture capital fund. You're not following behind them or getting leftovers. You're participating in the same round they're leading or joining, with your capital treated identically to theirs.

The fund has done the work of finding the opportunity, evaluating it against institutional standards, negotiating terms, and committing their own capital. When they invite co-investors, they're offering participation in that completed evaluation and negotiation. You benefit from their sourcing and diligence without replicating it yourself.

This differs from simply investing in companies that a VC has previously invested in. Co-investment means simultaneous participation in the same financing round. You're not buying secondary shares or investing in a later round. You're part of the same transaction the fund is executing.

The value proposition is straightforward. VCs see enormous deal volume and select a tiny percentage for investment. Their selection reflects professional judgment refined across hundreds of prior investments. Accessing their selections gives you quality filtering you couldn't replicate independently.

As Elizabeth Yin, co-founder and GP of Hustle Fund, explains: "Getting deal flow & education have been the bigger blockers to date" for new investors.

VC co-investment directly addresses the deal flow blocker by providing access to institutionally-vetted opportunities.

Why Funds Offer Co-Investment

Understanding fund motivation helps you evaluate co-investment opportunities. Funds don't share deal flow out of generosity. They have strategic reasons that align with investor interests.

Community building serves long-term fund interests. Funds like Hustle Fund operate investor communities because engaged members become advocates, deal sources, and potential future LPs. The community creates value that extends beyond individual co-investments. Angel Squad exists partly because Hustle Fund benefits from having thousands of engaged, educated investors in their ecosystem.

Portfolio company support expands with more investors. When 50 community members invest in a company, that company gains 50 potential helpers for hiring, customer introductions, and strategic advice. The collective capability of an engaged investor community exceeds what the fund alone can provide.

Round completion sometimes requires additional capital. Funds may have allocation limits or prefer not to take entire rounds themselves. Offering co-investment helps founders raise full amounts from investors the fund has already vetted.

Relationship maintenance with founders improves. Founders appreciate access to investor communities that can help their companies. Fund ability to offer community access becomes competitive advantage in winning deals.

These motivations create genuine alignment. Funds want co-investors to succeed because successful community members stay engaged and build the fund's broader ecosystem. The relationship isn't extractive.

As Eric Bahn, co-founder and GP of Hustle Fund, emphasizes: "For beginners, a bigger startup portfolio is better. It helps with diversification and helps you learn and get reps in. Investing requires practice like everything else."

Fund co-investment programs enable beginners to build portfolios through quality opportunities they couldn't access otherwise.

How to Access VC Co-Investment

The primary access channel is membership in fund-affiliated investor communities. These communities exist specifically to provide co-investment access alongside education and peer support.

Angel Squad, operated by Hustle Fund, represents this model clearly. Members access co-investment opportunities in companies Hustle Fund is backing, with $1,000 minimums making participation accessible. Deals have passed the fund's institutional screening. Terms are set through fund negotiation. You're investing alongside professional capital in opportunities that meet professional standards.

The membership approach works because it creates sustainable economics. Your membership fee helps fund the community infrastructure that makes co-investment access possible. Deal flow curation, educational programming, and operational support all require ongoing resources. Membership provides those resources while aligning incentives between fund and members.

Alternative co-investment access exists through syndicate leads who have relationships with VC funds. Some experienced angels have standing invitations to participate in deals their fund contacts are doing. They share this access through syndicates, typically charging carry for the access they're providing. Quality varies significantly based on the lead's actual relationships and selection judgment.

Direct co-investment invitations sometimes occur if you've invested in a company previously and the fund is leading a later round. These situations are relatively rare for individual angels but do happen as relationships develop.

As Shiyan Koh, co-founder and GP of Hustle Fund, notes: "Great founders can look like anyone and come from anywhere."

VC co-investment exposes you to founders the fund has selected from diverse backgrounds across their entire sourcing operation.

Evaluating Co-Investment Opportunities

Even when investing alongside reputable funds, your own evaluation matters. Fund participation provides quality signal but doesn't guarantee success. Most VC investments fail despite institutional backing.

Consider the fund's relevant expertise when evaluating their participation. A fund with deep healthcare investing experience backing a healthcare company provides stronger signal than the same fund backing a sector outside their specialty. Funds invest outside their core areas sometimes, and their edge is weaker there.

Understand the fund's ownership and commitment level. A fund leading the round with significant ownership is more meaningful signal than a fund participating with small check. Leading requires conviction and ongoing engagement. Small participation might be relationship maintenance rather than strong conviction.

Apply your own basic evaluation even when relying partly on fund judgment. Does the team seem capable? Does the market make sense to you? Are the terms reasonable? Fund participation doesn't mean you should abandon your own thinking. It means you have additional positive signal to incorporate.

Track your experience with specific funds over time. If opportunities from a particular fund consistently underperform your expectations, adjust how you weight their participation. If they consistently identify strong opportunities, weight their involvement more heavily.

The Co-Investment Opportunity

VC co-investment represents genuinely valuable access that didn't exist for individual investors a decade ago. You're seeing opportunities that passed institutional screening, investing on terms negotiated by experienced professionals, and participating alongside committed capital from sophisticated investors.

Angel Squad provides this access through Hustle Fund's pipeline: co-investment opportunities in companies the fund is backing, $1,000 minimums enabling portfolio construction, weekly education from the GPs making investment decisions, and peer community of 2,000+ members sharing the co-investment experience.

The opportunity to co-invest with a VC fund is no longer reserved for limited partners writing million-dollar checks. It's available to individual investors willing to engage with community structures that enable it. The access exists. The question is whether you'll use it.