Happy Thursday, and welcome to Q4.
I’m pleased to share that, starting today, I’ll highlight 5 angel-network-backed deals each week, up from the 3 per week I’ve historically covered. The investor community ecosystem is flourishing (as of today, we’ve highlighted activity from 122 investor groups and we are internally tracking over 300), new communities are forming all over the place, and I’m excited to be able to amplify even more of this activity going forward.
Need help finding or starting an investor group? Let’s talk.
On to today’s issue:
Angel Deals of the Week | 244 Deals, 122 Networks
First time featured this week: Flywheel Angel Network and District Angels
Bookmarks I think you’ll enjoy
The best nugget from my conversation with Ashher Syed, Founder of AngelsRound
🔥 Angel Deals of the Week
Angel funding rounds announced in recent weeks, compiled from public sources or via direct announcement. These deals represent the elite few that survived an angel network’s vetting process. Note: I have not personally analyzed these companies and am sharing for informational purposes only.
📊 Angel Network Investment Tracker: 244 Deals, 122 Networks.
🔓 The Exclusive: 13 Actively Raising Deals Shared to Date
ORBES | Robots for space station operations
Participating Group: Citrine Angels
ORBES is developing robots that inspect, maintain, and film space stations, inside and out, and has signed a letter of intent with Symphony Space to fly its external inspection satellite on a demonstration mission. Citrine Angels recently announced an investment.
Anna Shaposhnik | Arcadia, CA | August 2026 | Source
Pasture Biosciences | Vaccine to reduce cattle methane
Participating Group: Veterinary Angel Network for Entrepreneurs
Pasture Biosciences is developing an RNA vaccine that trains cattle's immune systems to suppress methane-producing gut microbes. The Veterinary Angel Network for Entrepreneurs recently announced an investment.
Matt Zehnder | San Francisco, CA | August 2026 | Source
Thryft Ship | Social media checkout and shipping platform
Participating Group: Atlanta Technology Angels
Thryft Ship is developing software that turns Instagram and TikTok comments into checkout links for independent sellers, and says it has more than 440 merchants on its platform. Atlanta Technology Angels recently announced its backing of the company.
Valeria Brenner | Atlanta, GA | August 2026 | Source
Optimly | Track how AI chatbots describe brands
Participating Group: Flywheel Angel Network
Optimly is developing software that tracks how AI chatbots describe brands and lets companies correct them, and says its index has scored about 60,000 brands. The company recently raised $800,000, including $150,000 from Flywheel Angel Network.
Apurva Luty | $800K Pre-Seed | Seattle, WA | July 2026 | Source
Alchemity | Waste gas to fuel reactor
Participating Group: District Angels
Alchemity is developing a reactor that converts waste gases like methane into aviation fuel, using technology licensed from the University of Maryland. The company recently closed a seed round with District Angels and others to fund a pilot demonstration.
Emir Dogdibegovic | College Park, MD | July 2026 | Source
📣 Have an Angel Deal to Announce?
P.S. Longtime readers: What do you think of the condensed blurbs this week?
But Andrew, Which Ones Are Still Raising?
That’s the question I launched The Exclusive to answer. 13 deals posted so far.
Apply for one of just 25 founding seats: $50/month for as long as you stay, full refund within 30 days if you’re not finding it useful. Accredited investors only, by application.
🔖 Bookmarks
🤫 Instinct: The Secretive AI Agent Everyone Seems to Be Talking About: It's invite-only, has 14 employees, and came out of stealth in August. The company just raised $1B at a $10B valuation from Sequoia, Benchmark, and Coatue.
🎙️ Guy Raz Bets on Himself: After 700+ episodes of asking founders how they built it, Raz is buying his show outright from NPR.
💍 Oura Postpones IPO: The smart ring maker is postponing its Nasdaq listing due to IPO market uncertainty, despite strong demand and a profitable business.
🥇 The Nugget: My Top Takeaway from A Conversation with Ashher Syed
Mediocre products win all the time 🏆
A great product doesn't guarantee a great business. Ashher has watched it happen again and again across nearly 50 deals. A good product with fuzzy positioning loses to a mediocre product with sharp, focused positioning. Positioning shapes the messaging. Messaging shapes distribution. And distribution is what gets a business paid.
From Ashher: “Your positioning has to be right and your messaging has to be right. Otherwise you will miss those people.”
Takeaway: It’s intuitive to start digging into how a product works. It’s less intuitive, but far more important, to press first on “What problem are you solving, and for whom?”
Want more? Check out my full conversation with Ashher 👇
Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and more.
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Until Next Week 👋
Thanks for reading - have a great week.
-Andrew
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