Investor Profile: IrishAngels — Thesis, Cheque Size & How to Apply

IrishAngels funding comes from one of the most distinctive angel networks in the United States: a Chicago-based group of accredited investors connected through the University of Notre Dame community. If you are asking how to get funding from IrishAngels, the good news is that the companies it backs do not need a Notre Dame tie — only the investor network is rooted there. It invests at pre-seed and seed, bringing a 200+ person investor network of operators, executives and entrepreneurs who have built and scaled companies.

IrishAngels funding: thesis and stage focus

IrishAngels invests at pre-seed, seed and Series A, most actively in fintech, digital health, B2B SaaS, consumer, supply chain, AI and analytics, proptech and sustainability. It looks for founders solving massive problems who already show early signal: a completed product with early evidence of product-market fit, such as approaching $40,000 in monthly recurring revenue or $1 million in trailing twelve-month revenue, 20%+ month-on-month growth, and strong retention. It prefers rounds of $1 million to $4 million with a lead investor already in place, and invests in US-based companies only. The group was founded in 2012 and describes itself as woman-led since inception.

Fund size and cheque size

IrishAngels invests $150,000 to $1 million per company, according to its managing director’s 2025 update, with an average cheque of $250,000 to $350,000 stated on its own site. As an angel network rather than a traditional fund, it has no single headline fund size, so its fund size is not publicly disclosed in fund terms; it instead reports $70 million deployed, over 110 portfolio companies and a community of over 10,000. Older profiles citing around 40 companies and $30 million deployed are out of date against the network’s own current figures.

Notable portfolio companies

IrishAngels counts Chime among its proudest early bets: the consumer fintech went public on NASDAQ in June 2025 with a $994 million IPO, its shares surging 59% on opening. It backed Gatsby in 2019, which was acquired by eToro in 2022 before eToro’s own NASDAQ listing in May 2025, and it backed Carpe, the sweat-focused personal care brand, before it went viral on TikTok and was later acquired by Topspin Partners. Recent investments named in its summer 2025 update include Nichefire, a cultural intelligence platform; ScalABLe, a no-code lending platform; Kinspire Health, a paediatric therapy platform; and View.io, an enterprise AI platform.

Team, community and perks

The network is led by managing director Caroline Gash, and was founded with Gary Gigot, the veteran technology investor who also founded Notre Dame’s Gigot Center for Entrepreneurship. What sets IrishAngels apart, in Gash’s words, is a community that shows up: members make introductions, share expertise, open doors and actively help portfolio companies succeed. The network runs quarterly meetings in Chicago and at Notre Dame, virtual AMA sessions, and site visits such as a 2025 trip to Boom Supersonic’s Colorado headquarters.

How to apply for funding

Founders can seek an introduction by emailing the team — its newsletter invites introductions via [email protected] — or register for its virtual AMA events. A Notre Dame connection helps with sourcing but is not required, so non-alumni founders should not self-select out. Arrive with a completed product, early revenue signal and a lead investor for the round.