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

An investor in Singapore wants to back a fintech startup in San Francisco. A founder in Nairobi needs capital from angels who understand African markets. A Brazilian operator wants to learn from US VCs while investing in Latin American startups.

Ten years ago, these scenarios were basically impossible. The legal complexity alone would kill most deals before they started.

Today, international angel investing is not only possible but increasingly common. The best angel investing communities are global by design, and they're rewriting the rules on where startup capital can come from.

Why Geography Used to Matter (and Why It's Changing)

Silicon Valley's dominance in startup investing wasn't an accident. It was a network effect built over 50 years. VCs invested in founders who became angels who invested in the next generation of founders who raised from those same VCs.

If you weren't physically in the Bay Area, you were cut off from that flywheel. Sure, you could angel invest locally, but local deal flow in most cities wasn't competitive with what SF had access to. And cross-border investing was a nightmare of tax forms, wire transfers, and legal uncertainty.

The shift started with remote work but accelerated with digital-first investing infrastructure. AngelList made it possible to invest in US companies from anywhere. Rolling funds eliminated the need for in-person LP meetings. Virtual pitch events meant you didn't need to be in a downtown San Francisco office to hear the best founders.

Now, some of the most active angel investing communities are majority international. Angel Squad has 75% of members based outside the San Francisco Bay Area, with Singapore hosting their third-largest member base after the Bay Area and New York.

How International Members Actually Invest

Let's get tactical about what cross-border angel investing looks like in practice.

Most US startups incorporate as Delaware C-Corps, which makes investment mechanics relatively straightforward regardless of where you're based. You're not investing in a foreign entity with complex tax treatment. You're investing in a US company that happens to be founded by someone who might also be international.

Communities like Angel Squad use AngelList SPVs to pool capital. This means international investors aren't individually wiring money and dealing with US banking systems. They're participating in a special purpose vehicle that handles all the administrative complexity.

Tax treatment varies by country, but here's what matters: your returns are typically taxed in your home country based on capital gains treatment there. Some countries have tax treaties with the US that affect withholding rates, but most angels aren't worrying about this until they actually have exits.

The bigger consideration is accreditation requirements. In the US, you need to be an accredited investor to participate in most startup deals. Other countries have different thresholds or no formal requirements. Angel Squad, for instance, welcomes non-accredited investors as members, though only accredited investors can actually deploy capital per SEC regulations. They even reimburse the Series 65 exam fee for non-accredited members who pass the test and become accredited.

Deal Flow That Crosses Borders

Here's where international communities create real value: bidirectional deal flow.

A community with members in 40+ countries doesn't just give international investors access to US deals. It gives US investors access to international opportunities they'd never otherwise see.

Hustle Fund itself invests globally. They've backed companies in Latin America, Africa, and throughout Asia. Angel Squad members get exposure to this same deal flow, which means an investor in Texas might co-invest in a Brazilian fintech startup alongside Hustle Fund without ever having networks in São Paulo.

The inverse is equally powerful. Founders in Southeast Asia or Eastern Europe can pitch to a global investor community without needing to relocate to San Francisco. Angel Squad runs virtual events at 10 AM and 5 PM Pacific specifically to accommodate different time zones.

Building Networks Beyond Your Home Market

Let's talk about the network effects of global angel investing communities.

When you join a US-centric angel group, you meet other US investors. When you join a global community, you meet investors everywhere. This matters more than you think.

Say you're an angel in Berlin and you back a German SaaS company. As it grows, that startup will likely need to expand to the US market. Knowing angels in San Francisco who can make introductions to enterprise customers suddenly becomes incredibly valuable.

Or you're a US investor who backs a company building for the Latin American market. Having angels in Mexico City or São Paulo who can help evaluate product-market fit is a massive advantage.

Angel Squad runs quarterly in-person meetups in major cities globally and hosts an annual Camp Hustle retreat. These aren't just networking events. They're where meaningful relationships form between investors who might be dealmaking together for the next decade.

The Legal and Regulatory Reality

International angel investing isn't without complexity, but it's manageable.

First, know your home country's rules on foreign investment. Some countries restrict how much capital citizens can move overseas annually. Others have specific reporting requirements for foreign asset holdings. A quick conversation with an accountant familiar with international investment usually clears this up.

Second, understand US securities law basics. The SEC regulates who can invest in private US companies, but those regulations don't care about nationality. An accredited investor in Singapore has the same rights as an accredited investor in California.

Third, use established infrastructure. Don't try to negotiate individual investment agreements as an international angel. Join communities that have already solved these problems at scale. Angel Squad's use of AngelList SPVs means all the legal documentation is standardized and has been reviewed by lawyers who know international investing.

Why Remote Isn't a Disadvantage Anymore

Some investors still believe you need to meet founders in person to make good investment decisions. That's increasingly outdated thinking.

Video calls are sufficient for pre-seed diligence. You're evaluating whether founders are smart, honest, and building something people want. You can assess all of that over Zoom. In fact, the best founders are often better in written communication than in person anyway.

Angel Squad members do live deal reviews virtually, ask questions in real-time, and make investment decisions without ever being in the same room as the founder. The track record speaks for itself: $30M+ invested across 70+ companies.

The value of being local shows up post-investment, but even there, it's overstated. Most pre-seed founders don't need heavy operational support. They need capital, they need connections to customers or later-stage investors, and they need people who'll respond to their update emails. You can do all of that from anywhere.

If you're sitting in London or Bangalore or Sydney wondering if you can really participate in the startup investing ecosystem, the answer is yes. The infrastructure exists. The communities are global. The opportunities are there.

What's stopping you?