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

Women write only about 14% of all angel checks in the United States. This isn't because women lack the capital or sophistication to invest in startups. It's because the traditional angel investing world has been an old boys' club that rarely welcomed women in.

The consequences ripple throughout the entire startup ecosystem. When investors share similar backgrounds and networks, founders who don't fit that mold struggle to raise capital. Female founders receive just 2% of all venture capital funding. It's not that women aren't starting companies. It's that they're not getting funded at the same rates as their male counterparts.

But something is shifting. Women-led angel investing communities are emerging that are changing both who invests and who receives funding.

Why Women Have Been Shut Out of Angel Investing

The barriers have been both explicit and implicit. Historically, angel investing required deep personal networks, usually built through previous jobs in tech or finance. Women were underrepresented in both industries, which meant they didn't have the same access to deal flow or the relationships that led to co-investment opportunities.

There was also a knowledge gap. Angel investing felt opaque because it was opaque. The mechanics of evaluating startups, understanding term sheets, and managing a portfolio weren't taught in any formal way. You learned by doing, but you needed to be invited into the club to start doing.

The wealth requirement added another barrier. While SEC accreditation thresholds are gender-neutral, wealth isn't evenly distributed. Women control less household wealth on average, and they've historically had less access to the high-paying tech and finance roles that generate the income needed to qualify as accredited investors.

Finally, there was culture. Many traditional angel groups felt uncomfortable or unwelcoming to women. The deals got discussed over golf or at dinners where women weren't invited. The conversations assumed a level of financial confidence that many women hadn't been encouraged to develop.

How Hustle Fund is Different

Representation at the top matters. Hustle Fund's leadership structure is unusual in venture capital: two of its three co-founders are women. Elizabeth Yin and Shiyan Koh co-founded the firm alongside Eric Bahn in 2017, and both serve as general partners making investment decisions.

This isn't symbolic diversity. Elizabeth has invested in 500+ startups throughout her career, including her time at 500 Startups before starting Hustle Fund. In her first 18 months at Hustle Fund, 45% of her deals included at least one female founder. Shiyan brings operational experience from scaling NerdWallet from 10 to 450 employees, giving her a practical lens on which business models actually work at scale.

Their presence as female GPs changes the dynamic for female founders who pitch Hustle Fund. When you walk into a meeting and see women on the other side of the table, it signals that this fund doesn't just tolerate diversity as a checkbox exercise. They've built it into their leadership structure from day one.

How Women-Led Communities Are Different

Women-led angel investing communities approach the problem differently. Instead of replicating the exclusive, relationship-driven model that shut women out, they're building inclusive programs focused on education and access.

These communities teach the fundamentals: how to read a pitch deck, what questions to ask during due diligence, how to construct a portfolio, and how to evaluate founders. They create space for women to ask basic questions without feeling judged. They provide peer support from other women who are navigating the same journey.

The deal flow comes from diverse sources rather than just the same small networks. Many of these communities actively source female founders and founders from underrepresented backgrounds, creating deal flow that doesn't exist in traditional angel circles.

Angel Squad's Approach to Gender Diversity

Angel Squad's membership is roughly 30% women, which is significantly higher than most angel investing programs. This didn't happen by accident. The program was designed from the start to be inclusive and welcoming to investors from all backgrounds.

The structure removes many of the traditional barriers. You don't need to know anyone to join. You don't need to write large checks. You can invest as little as $1,000 alongside Hustle Fund through AngelList SPVs. The education is structured and accessible, not dependent on informal mentorship or insider knowledge.

Angel Squad also actively works to create a community culture that's supportive rather than competitive. The "no a-holes" policy is enforced. Members are encouraged to ask questions, share their investment thesis, and learn from each other's experiences.

Elizabeth Yin has been particularly vocal about the need for more diverse investors. She's invested in 500+ startups throughout her career and regularly shares insights about how to spot overlooked founders and opportunities. Her presence as a female GP who co-founded and leads a venture fund provides a model for women who might not have seen themselves as investors before.

The Ripple Effects of More Women Investors

When women start investing at scale, it changes which startups get funded. Female investors are more likely to back female founders. They're more likely to understand and get excited about products that serve women. They ask different questions during due diligence and spot opportunities that male investors might miss.

Take women's health, for example. This is a massive market that has been chronically underfunded because the investor base has been predominantly male. Women investors immediately understand why products in this space matter and why the market opportunity is real. Their presence in angel investing circles helps more women's health startups get off the ground.

The same pattern plays out across industries. Women investors bring different professional experiences, different networks, and different perspectives on what problems are worth solving. This diversity makes the entire startup ecosystem healthier and more innovative.

Building Confidence Through Community

One theme that comes up repeatedly in women-led angel investing communities: the importance of peer support for building confidence. Many women have been socialized to defer to others on financial matters or to underestimate their own judgment. Angel investing requires making decisions under uncertainty, which can feel uncomfortable at first.

Having a community of other women going through the same learning process makes this easier. You can share your investment thesis and get feedback. You can talk through why a particular deal excited you or made you nervous. You can learn from other people's mistakes without having to make every mistake yourself.

Angel Squad's structure facilitates this through both virtual and in-person connections. Members get matched with each other based on shared interests and backgrounds. They attend weekly pitch events together. They gather for quarterly meetups in cities around the world. These connections create accountability and support that helps women stay engaged and continue developing as investors.

What Success Actually Looks Like

Success in closing the gender gap doesn't mean having women-only angel groups. It means creating a startup investing ecosystem where women participate at the same rates as men, where female founders can raise capital as easily as male founders, and where gender becomes irrelevant to whether someone can become a successful angel investor.

We're not there yet. But the growth of women-led angel investing communities is moving things in the right direction. Angel Squad's 2,000+ members include hundreds of women who are learning to invest, making their first angel checks, and building the networks that will define their investing careers over the next decade.

These women will eventually become LPs in venture funds, start their own micro-funds, or become the angel investors who write the first checks into the next generation of startups. The knowledge and confidence they're building now will compound over decades.

If you're a woman interested in angel investing, the barriers that existed even five years ago have largely been dismantled. Programs like Angel Squad provide structured education, accessible deal flow, and supportive communities that make it possible to learn and invest regardless of your background. The old boys' club is still around, but it's no longer the only game in town.