Angel investing isn’t a side hustle. It’s not “spare cash in startups”, and it’s definitely not a way to feel adjacent to the tech scene.

It’s a 7–10 year commitment of capital you can genuinely afford to lose, in an asset class where plenty of investments fail, and the ones that do well often take longer than you think to pay out.

So before you write your first cheque, let’s get honest about whether you’re ready. Not “ready” as in perfect. Not “ready” as in you’ve got it all figured out. Ready as in you’re financially secure enough to take real risk, you’re psychologically prepared for what angel investing actually feels like, and you’re clear-eyed about the timeline and the work involved.

Because the worst thing you can do, for yourself and for the founders you back, is invest before you’re ready.

On paper, many of us are “sophisticated investors”. In reality, too many brilliant women sit on cash, unexercised options, and quiet doubts about “getting it wrong”. The ATO outlines the rules for sophisticated investors here.

Vested Angels is a small, invite-only investment club for senior professional women who want to understand early-stage investing properly, co-diligence real companies, and help shift who gets funded in Australia.

The Numbers That Should Stop Us in Our Tracks

In Q2 2025, Women's Agenda reported that women-only founding teams in Australia raised less than 0.5% of total startup funding. Not 5%. Not even 1%. Half a percent.

Globally, of the $289 billion in venture capital deployed in 2024, only 2.3% went to female-only teams ($6.7B). Meanwhile, 83.6% went to all-male teams ($241.9B) [2]. Meanwhile, in Australia, female founders received just 2% of venture funding in 2024 [1].

This isn’t a women’s issue. It’s a capital allocation failure.