Best Angel Investor in Tampa, FL
Finding the best angel investor in Tampa for your startup can be daunting, but it’s critical to your success. While you may be already thinking about the next milestone you’ll achieve, getting there won’t be easy without the right angel investor by your side.
Finding the right fit is a bit like marriage – the synergy between two aligned individuals allows their unique skill sets to complement each other in pursuit of their shared goals. And, when the fit isn’t right, it can be catastrophic.
As you seek out the right investor for your organization, look for one that has a successful track record of investments, domain experience, the right connections, and a willingness to guide your business in more ways than just with capital.
Meet Steve MacDonald: A Leading Angel Investor in Tampa, FL
A serial entrepreneur turned angel investor, Steve MacDonald is a Tampa-based trailblazer forging a path for the new vanguard of tech leaders. With over 100 angel investments and more than $400 million in exits in companies he’s founded, Steve’s meteoric rise to success began with the sale of myMatrixx, his pharmacy benefits firm, in 2017, and has only continued to gain momentum as he has turned from focusing on his own businesses to nurturing the next generation of tech startup visionaries.
Rather than sitting on the $250 million profit from the myMatrixx sale, Steve took what he had learned through his personal successes and setbacks and pressed forward to his next endeavor, his tech-centric angel investing firm MacDonald Ventures, which has allowed him to pursue his passion for finding and funding innovators with great ideas and the determination to go the distance.
Steve is deeply interwoven in the fabric of Tampa Bay’s tech scene, both through his capital investments and his mentorship. In 2019, he was honored as Catalyst’s TiETAN Super Entrepreneur, a recognition for his decades of commitment to Florida’s tech industry. He was also named the 2020 winner of the Tampa Bay Tech Community Dedication and Leadership Award, another honor that recognizes Steve’s drive for success and commitment to nurturing rising innovators.
Extending his leadership throughout Tampa, Steve serves on the board of Florida Funders, a hybrid VC fund and angel network focused on early-stage tech, and as Entrepreneur in Residence at Tampa Bay Wave, a tech startup community and incubator.
However, Steve is most involved as an angel investor himself, anchoring himself in companies at inception, and partnering with phenomenal inventors, status-quo challengers, and brave adventurers to cultivate the leaders of tomorrow. As an angel investor, Steve provides founders and entrepreneurs with his decades of tech experience, mentorship, greater access to the Florida tech community, and capital investment to help startups succeed.
Successful Angel Investments in Tampa Businesses
Steve MacDonald has had a direct influence in developing some of Tampa Bay’s most noteworthy startups that have flourished into thriving businesses.
Florida Funders
Florida Funders is a hybrid angel investor network and venture capital fund based out of Tampa, Florida, that funds and builds early-stage tech companies. Made up of a dynamic team of entrepreneurs, investors, and venture capitalists, Florida Funders makes accredited investors feel confident about investing their money in opportunities they vet.
Even venture capitalists need to start somewhere, and Florida Funders presents an opportunity to invest in one company that invests in hundreds of companies, making it easy to get a foot in the door of investing.
As a member of the Board of Directors for Florida Funders, Steve MacDonald plays an integral role in selecting the businesses to fund within the firm.
Chattr
A MacDonald Ventures investment, Chattr is an automated hiring platform powered by Ai and designed for the hourly workforce. From sourcing to onboarding, Chattr handles everything like an on-demand recruiting team – all managers have to do is interview and make their final selection.
Chattr can reduce the time spent hiring by 88% and produce 62% more applicants, putting time back in the workday and creating better hiring results that create a lower turnover.
Major brands such as Subway, DoubleTree by Hilton, Bealls Outlet, and IHOP all trust Chattr to simplify their hourly hiring.
Ideal Agent
Ideal Agent is another MacDonald Ventures investment that is making waves in Tampa and nationwide. A real estate technology company that offers a platform to connect buyers and sellers with the best brokers around the country, Ideal Agent sources a network of the top 1% of agents in an area and connects them with real sellers and buyers to create the best possible experience and transaction for all parties.
In summer 2021, Ideal Agent kicked off an eight-figure Series A round of funding led by Incenter after a successful $3m seed capital raise in 2019.
Tampa Angel Investment Opportunities We Look For
MacDonald Ventures seeks out the believers, the doers, and dreamers. Those who find a problem, and don’t stop there, but follow it with great fortitude to a visionary solution, harness their boundless creativity and ambition, and channel it into something productive and original that the world needs.
With a focus on tech startups in their early stages, Steve MacDonald works with entrepreneurs primarily in the B2B services space. It’s here that most companies can build fairly predictable streams of revenue, and it’s this targeted approach that Steve takes to more easily measure the long-term value of his investment.
As a tech entrepreneur himself, Steve prefers to focus strategically within his area of expertise for his investments, seeking out technology-enabled companies that capitalize on opportunities to cut down on paperwork, streamline communication, and reduce unnecessary labor through computers, machinery, robotics, and automation.
Steve MacDonald works with startup founders looking for more than just a financial investment. Because of his perspective and background, the right investment is also one where he can provide his guidance, firsthand experience, and underlying mission to help bring the next generation of world-changing tech to market. Learn more about what angel investors look for.
Why Choose MacDonald Ventures as Your Tampa Angel Investor?
Steve MacDonald of MacDonald Ventures is the leading tech angel investor in Tampa, FL. With a mission to build the next generation of change agents in tech, his financial and human capital provide a considerable advantage to his investments.
An angel investor with the cash to fund your venture doesn’t necessarily qualify them as the right fit. The ideal angel investor can help you reach your funding goals while also granting insight into the inner workings of the industry, introducing you to valuable connections, such as other potential investors, vendors, or even customers, and keeping you headed in the right direction.
In addition to his early-stage financial investments anywhere from $50,000 to $1 million, Steve MacDonald also brings with him a diverse portfolio, domain experience in the tech space, a history of successful investments, and a network of valuable connections throughout Florida and beyond.
Think We’re a Good Fit? Connect With Us Today
At MacDonald Ventures, our focus is on early-stage technology companies that can profitably create a real impact for businesses and consumers.
If you’re a startup founder who is passionate about the solution you’re building, have the traction to prove your concept, and are looking for an extra push to take it to the next level, reach out to MacDonald Ventures.
