Company Alumni Investment Clubs

Airbnb, Uber, and Pinterest created 6,000+ millionaires from the companies’ employees. Find out how they invest their money back into the ecosystem.

Kieran Ryan

February 24, 2024

company investment clubs featuring Uber, AirAngels, Lyft, Pinterest, and DoorDash

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When the startups Uber, Airbnb, and Pinterest went public, they created 6,000+ millionaires from the companies’ early employees and senior leaders. This wealth then gets injected into the tech ecosystem through investments in the next wave of startups. Prominent tech companies often form investment clubs using tools like AngelList Syndicates, where they work together to invest in alums who venture off to start their own companies. We’ll look at some of the more noteworthy company alum investment clubs and their investments.

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1. Uber

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Investment Club: Uber Alumni Investment Club

Active: Yes

Median investment (lead): $2,500

Median investment (syndicate): $265,300

Deals in the last 12 months: 42

Invests exclusively in Uber alums: No

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Leadership:

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William Barnes: Former Regional General Manager U.S. West Coast at Uber
Amr Alshihabi: Former Staff BD Manager at Uber

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Notable Investments:

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Snackpass: All-in-one platform for quickserve restaurnats.
Boom Supersonic: Supersonic passenger airplanes.
Standard Cognition: Autonomous retail for brick & mortar stores.
Anduril Industries: Operating system for defense technology.
SpaceX: Advanced rockets and spacecraft company.

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2. Lyft

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Investment Club: Uplyft

Active: Yes

Median investment (lead): $2,000

Median investment (syndicate): $149,900

Deals in the last 12 months: 12

Invests exclusively in Lyft alums: No

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Leadership:

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Brian Nichols: Former Market Operations Manager at Lyft.
Kate Shepherd: Operations at Hustle Fund.
Paul Thompson: Former Head of Culture at Lyft.
Ann Miura Ko: Lyft Investor & Board Member.

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Notable Investments:

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Candid: Teeth aligners company.
Airhouse: Custom-built fulfillment for direct-to-consumer companies.
Podia: All-in-one platform to sell courses and digital products.
Swiftlane: Security company with touchless access control and video intercom system.
Contra: Freelancer marketplace.

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3. Airbnb

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Investment Club: AirAngels

Active: Yes

Median investment (lead): $5,000

Median investment (syndicate): $226,500

Deals in the last 12 months: 10

Invests exclusively in Airbnb alums: No

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Leadership:

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Daniel Rumennik: Former Global Operations at Airbnb.
Lenny Rachitsky: Former Product Lead, Supply Growth at Airbnb.

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Notable Investments:

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Figma: Collaborative design platform.
Zip: Modern procurement platform.
Snackpass: All-in-one platform for quickserve restaurnats.
Future: Personal training platform.
Sorare: Collect, play, and win officially licensed digital trading cards.

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4. DoorDash

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Investment Club: DashAngels

Active: Yes

Median investment (lead): $1,000

Median investment (syndicate): $233,000

Deals in the last 12 months: 15

Invests exclusively in DoorDash alums: No

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Leadership:

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Michael Bloch: Former Director of Strategy & Operations at DoorDash.
Sameed Musvee: Former Senior Manager, Finance & Strategy at DoorDash.
Bernard Liang: Former Engineering Lead at DoorDash.
Jeremy Terman: Former Enterprise Partnerships at DoorDash.

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Notable Investments:

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Roofstock: Real-estate investing platform.
Density: Workspace analytics platform.
Lunchbox Technologies: Online ordering and guest engagement platform.
Rudderstack: Customer data platform.
7shifts: Easy employee scheduling software for restaurants.

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5. Palantir

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Investment Club: Palumni VC

Active: Yes

Median investment (lead): $20,000

Median investment (syndicate): $130,500

Deals in the last 12 months: 4

Invests exclusively in Palantir alums: No

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Leadership:

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Luba Lesiva: Head of Investor Relations at Palantir

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Notable Investments:

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Adyton: Mobile first personal accountability tool for military teams.
Kairos Aerospace: Tools to identify methane leaks for the oil & gas industry.
Little Otter: Digital mental health solution for children.
AngelList: Software for investing.
Kurtosis: Distributed system software platform.

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6. Facebook

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Investment Club: Backed By Blue

Active: Yes

Median investment (lead): $1,000

Median investment (syndicate): $108,000

Deals in the last 12 months: 4

Invests exclusively in Facebook alums: No

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Leadership:

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Saad Rizvi: Former New Product Experimentation at Facebook.
Jeremy Brewer: Former Threat Investigator at Facebook.
Zev Lapin: Former Product Manager at Facebook.

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Notable Investments:

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Wander: A new way to travel.
Stonks: Investing platform for private startups.
Lime: E-scooter and e-bike sharing.
Peel: E-commerce data platform.
Shaped: Realtime AI personalization platform.

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7. Affirm

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Investment Club: xffirmers

Active: Yes

Median investment (lead): $1,000

Median investment (syndicate): $121,000

Deals in the last 12 months: 3

Invests exclusively in Affirm alums: No

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Leadership:

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Jeffrey Shu: Former Financial Partnerships Lead at Affirm.
Rahul Gupta: Former Software Engineering Manager at Affirm.
Eric Kobe: Former VP, New Markets & Growth strategy at Affirm.

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Notable Investments:

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Clearco: Growth capital for e-commerce businesses.
Bolt: One-click checkout.
Unit21: No-code platform for risk management.
Kafene: Lease-to-own furniture.
Atrato: Buy-now-pay-later company.

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8. Square

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Investment Club: SquareAngels

Active: Yes

Median investment (lead): N/A

Median investment (syndicate): N/A

Deals in the last 12 months: N/A

Invests exclusively in Square alums: N/A

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Leadership:

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Notable Investments:

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Faire: Online wholesale marketplace.
Remote: Global HR solution.
Modern Treasury: Builds products that move money.
Pinwheel: Income data for fintech companies.
Vouch Insurance: Startup insurance for venture-backed companies.

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9. Pinterest

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Investment Club: PinAngels

Active: Yes

Median investment (lead): $2,500

Median investment (syndicate): $123,000

Deals in the last 12 months: 8

Invests exclusively in Pinterest alums: No

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Leadership:

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Cat Lee: Former Head of Growth, Partner Marketing, & Culture at Pinterest.
Julie H. Park: Former Product & Strategy at Pinterest.
Frank Fumarola: Former VP of Ads Products & Product Marketing at Pinterest.
Ali Altaf: Group Product Manager at Pinterest.
Jeff Chang: Former Growth Engineering at Pinterest.

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Notable Investments:

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HeadSpin: AI testing and developer operations collaboration platform.
Podia: All-in-one platform to sell courses and digital products.
KhataBook: Business management platform for India.
Cobli: Fleet management company.
Akash Systems: Satellite communication reimagined.

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10. Google

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Investment Club: Xoogler.co

Active: Yes

Median investment (lead): $1,000

Median investment (syndicate): $98,500

Deals in the last 12 months: 2

Invests exclusively in Google alums: Yes

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Leadership:

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Christopher Fong: Former Business Development, Partnerships, & Sales at Google.
Ethan Beard: Former Director of Social Media at Google.
Kushagra Shrivastava: Former Global Partner Marketing & Strategy, Google Play at Google.
Vibhu Mittal: Former Senior Scientist at Google.
Sandeep Jain: Former Staff Software Engineer at Google.

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Notable Investments:

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Kapwing: Collaborative online content creation platform.
Workstream: Hire hourly employees faster.
Sunshine: Contact manager.
Commonstock: Social network for investing.
FalconX: Digital asset platform.

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11. Netflix

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Investment Club: Culture Capital

Active: No

Median investment (lead): N/A

Median investment (syndicate): N/A

Deals in the last 12 months: N/A

Invests exclusively in Netflix alums: N/A

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Leadership:

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Jon Bell: Former Product Lead at Netflix.
Kate Cushing: Former Director of Product at Netflix.
Ebi Atawodi: Former Director of Product, Payments EMEA at Netflix.
Michelle Parsons: Former Product Innovation Leader, Global Kids & Family at Netflix.

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Notable Investments:

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12. McKinsey & Co.

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Investment Club: FirmAngels

Active: No

Median investment (lead): N/A

Median investment (syndicate): N/A

Deals in the last 12 months: N/A

Invests exclusively in McKinsey & Co. alums: N/A

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Leadership:

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Daniel Rumennik: Former Business Analyst at McKinsey & Co.

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Notable Investments:

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13. Cruise

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Investment Club: Cruise Alumni Investment Fund

Active: No

Median investment (lead): N/A

Median investment (syndicate): N/A

Deals in the last 12 months: N/A

Invests exclusively in Cruise alums: N/A

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Leadership:

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Ian Rust: Former Founding Engineer at Cruise.
Sol Bier: Former Founding Engineering Team at Cruise.
Matthew Graney: Former Senior Staff Electrical Engineer at Cruise.

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Notable Investments:

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14. Reddit

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Investment Club: Reddit Alumni Investment Club

Active: No

Median investment (lead): N/A

Median investment (syndicate): N/A

Deals in the last 12 months: N/A

Invests exclusively in Reddit alums: N/A

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Leadership:

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Bryan Rosenblatt: Former Head of Sales, East Coast at Reddit.

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Notable Investments:

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