Top 50 Wine And Spirits Angel Investors in United States in January 2026

Fabrice Grinda is among the world’s leading Internet entrepreneurs and investors.He has over $300 million in exits and 150 angel investments. Fabrice has served as CEO for three multinational companies and has an impressive track record as an early investor in Alibaba, Lending Club, Delivery Hero and Brightroll.Fabrice is currentlyinvesting in startups and building companies through FJ Labs, which he cofounded with business partner Jose Marin. Fabrice is also co-founder and executive chairman of Beepi, a next generation used car marketplace. Beepi recently raised $60 million in series B funding.Prior to FJ Labs and Beepi, Fabrice was co-founder and co-CEO of OLX, one of the largest websites in the world with over 200 million unique visitors per month. The company operates in 40 countries and has over 1,200 employees. OLX is the largest classifieds site in India, Brazil, Pakistan, Poland, Ukraine, Portugal and many other emerging markets.Before OLX, Fabrice was co-founder and CEO of Zingy, one of the largest wireless media companies in the Americas. Fabrice successfully grew the business to $200 million in sales in four years.Fabrice started his entrepreneurial journey in 1998, at 23, when he co-founded and was CEO of Aucland. Soon after, Aucland grew into one of the largest auction sites in Europe. Before his entrepreneurial endeavors, Fabrice worked as a management consultant for McKinsey & Company.Fabrice holds a BA in Economics from Princeton University. He graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1996, and was awarded the Halbert White prize, given to the most distinguished economics student, as well as The Wolfe Balleisen memorial prize, awarded for best thesis.In his free time, Fabrice likes to travel the world, kitesurf, play tennis, and blog about his personal and professional life at www.fabricegrinda.com.

Markus Frind

Jason Calacanis is the Founder and CEO of Inside.com and Launch. He previously worked at Weblogs as a Co-Founder and CEO. Jason Calacanis attended Fordham University.

Justin Waldron is Co-Founder & President of Playco, and previously Co-Founder / EVP of Product of Zynga, the world's largest mobile game company. Zynga IPO'd in 2011 with a $10 billion valuation and over $1b in annual revenue. Justin is an angel investor in Lambda School, Substack, and 60+ other companies. He mentors youngentrepreneurs at The Thiel Foundation's Thiel Fellowship program.

Kevin Weil is the Head of Product at Instagram, overseeing consumer and monetization products. Prior to Instagram, Kevin was the SVP of Product at Twitter, overseeing product development and design across Twitter's consumer and ad products, as well as Vine and Periscope. Between 2010 and 2014, he led product development for Twitter'sadvertising platform, as well as the development of Fabric. Before joining Twitter in 2009, he was the first employee at web media startup Cooliris, working in user growth and analytics. He also worked worked at municipal wireless network provider Tropos Networks, Microsoft Research, and in a past life as a Physics Ph.D. Student, at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. Kevin graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University with a B.A. In Mathematics and Physics, and holds an M.S. in physics from Stanford

Charles Hudson is the Managing Partner of Precursor Ventures and a Lecturer at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Prior to that, he was a Venture Partner at Uncork Capital (formerly SoftTech VC). He attended Stanford University Graduate School of Business and Stanford University.

Christine is the CEO and Founding Partner of 500 Global (formerly 500 Startups). Since the firm’s inception in 2010, she has grown 500 Global led the firm’s growth over the past decade from a startup accelerator to a multi-stage venture capital firm with $2.4B in assets under management, and investments in more than 2,800 companies in 80+countries. 500 Global regularly ranks as one of the most active venture capital firms in the world, according to PitchBook, with a top number of exits. The firm’s diversified portfolio includes over 35 companies valued at more than $1B, such as Talkdesk, Canva, Carbon Health, and GitLab. Private Equity International has named Christine one of 10 Women of Influence in venture capital.She currently serves on the venture capital committee of the Association of Asian American Investment Managers, and is an active member of the Young Presidents’ Organization. Christine is also an honoree of Gold House’s 2021 A100 List, recognizing the most impactful Asian and Pacific Islander leaders across business and technology, entertainment, advocacy and politics, lifestyle, and sports.Prior to founding 500 Global, she held product marketing and operating roles at Google, focusing primarily on monetization and developer products such as Google AdSense, Google Analytics, YouTube APIs and syndication, and Google Developer Platform Tools.Christine holds a B.A. in Cognitive Science from the University of California at Berkeley.

Gary Vaynerchuk is the Chairman of VaynerX. He previously worked at Resy as a Co-Founder. Gary Vaynerchuk attended Mount Ida College.

Ms. Kala joined Bain Capital Private Equity in 2013. She is a Vice President in the Consumer, Retail and Dining Vertical and is a member of the North American Private Equity team. Ms. Kala has also worked extensively in Bain Capital Private Equity’s Industrial Vertical. Ms. Kala received an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business whereshe was an Arjay Miller Scholar. She graduated cum laude with an AB in Economics from Harvard University.

Pankaj Jain is the Managing Partner at Saka Ventures. Previously, he was a Partner at 500 Startups, a California based seed fund and accelerator program. Pankaj focuses on investing in early stage startups across New York City, India, South Asia and has led investments in over fifty companies at 500 Startups across 6 countries.Pankaj spent over12 years in the Financial industry at firms such as JP Morgan, Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM) and GlobeOp Financial Services in various operational roles including enterprise mortgage risk management, application development, market data infrastructure, trade management, pricing infrastructure and customer service areas.In 2007, Pankaj’s adventures in India began, where he started a company building an on-demand, employment marketplace for the under-served. In 2008, Pankaj became a co-founder of the HeadStart Network Foundation and the led the efforts in Delhi. In late 2010, he began setting up Startup Weekend in India.

Zach Segal is the Head of Listings at Coinbase. Previously, he was a Product Manager at Earn, LendUp, and SendHub. Segal holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from Florida State University College of Business. He lives in San Francisco, California, United States.

Dave McClure is the founder of Practical Venture Capital and has been an investor and entrepreneur in Silicon Valley for over twenty-five years. Previously he was the founding partner of 500 Startups, a global VC firm and startup accelerator with over $500M in assets under management. Dave has invested in hundreds of companies around the world,including more than 15 unicorns and 5 IPOs. He was named by Forbes as one of the top VCs in the world in 2016 and 2017 (Forbes Midas List). Before 500 Startups, Dave worked at Founders Fund and PayPal, and he graduated from the Johns Hopkins University in 1988 with a BS in engineering and applied mathematics.

Parker Thompson - General Partner & Founder @ Tnt Ventures

Christen O'Brien

Founding partner and investor at Calm/Storm Ventures. Previously founded companies in consumer e-commerce (KochAbo; exit to Marley Spoon in 2015) and enterprise SaaS (Gustav; YC S17). Launched and grew successful open source projects (Vienna RSS; over 10 million downloads), as well as various community and charity projects (FounderTalks.org,Chancen:reich).I‘m especially passionate about the very early stages of company-building and have a track-record of early stage investments in my own companies, as well as healthcare and health-tech startups like Mediclass, hi.health and Probably Genetic (YC W19). Other notable investments include Flaviar (YC S14), Joblocal.de (Exit 2015), Kiko, Biloba and an investment as one of the first limited partners in Austrian venture fund Speedinvest.

Jen Rubio is the Co-Founder and CEO at Away.

Peter Hunn is Founder and serves as Chief Executive Officer at Clause, Inc. The Accord Project (now a Linux Foundation project) from Clause, Inc. is the leading organization for the development of techno-legal standards for smart legal contracts and distributed ledger applications in the legal industry. Peter is also an angel investor in earlystage startups.

As the CEO of Campus Apartments, David Adelman leverages more than three decades of experience in real estate investing and development to oversee a portfolio of student housing properties at 80 schools in 23 states. He was mentored from an early age by the founder of Campus Apartments and has played a major role in the company’s growth sincetaking over as CEO. Specifically, David Adelman fostered a relationship with sovereign wealth fund GIC Real Estate of Singapore to invest in the company in 2006. Mr. Adelman is also the founder of Darco Capital and co-founder and vice chair of FS Investments. Through Darco, he has invested in dozens of venture capital and private equity businesses, including digital healthcare company Virta, tequila brand Lobos 1707, Fleetzero electric ships, Prolific Machines cultured meat, Crystal Palace football club, and athletic apparel maker Fanatics. FS Investments is a prominent manager of alternative investment funds with more than $38 billion in assets under management. A basketball fan, David Adelman leveraged his success in real estate and business investing in October 2022 to purchase a $250 million equity stake in Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment, the firm that owns the Philadelphia 76ers NBA franchise. Mr. Adelman is also the chairman of 76 Devcorp, through which he is leading efforts to build a new sports and entertainment venue for the team and revitalize the Fashion District mall at Tenth and Market Streets in Center City. David Adelman is a former Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in the real estate category for Greater Philadelphia. He currently belongs to the Young Presidents' Organization and Real Estate Roundtable and serves on the University City District Board of Directors and Penn Medicine Board of Trustees. In addition, he is a past chairman of the Philadelphia Holocaust Remembrance Foundation. He holds a bachelor of arts in political science from Ohio State University. Away from work, he enjoys spending his free time with his wife and daughters.

Ligaya launches new markets for consumer technology companies. She kickstarted Airbnb's international development as Global Head of Offline Marketing & Community during their most rapid growth phase. Prior to that, she was a Marketing Manager for Yelp, helping the company expand their footprint across the US. Ligaya now angel invests andadvises startups and serves as a mentor for 500 Startups. She is also a regular speaker at SXSW, various TEDx, and CMX Summit. Ligaya was also selected as a 2014 TechWomen by the US Department of State.

Managing Partner at Strawberry Creek Ventures, an Alumni Ventures fund. AngelList syndicate lead. 2x venture-backed founder/CEO. Former Innovation @ Nike

Joanne Wilson has had many careers. She started out in retail, eventually moving to the wholesale arena. She then transitioned to the media side of the technology world, before once again reinventing herself as an investor. She is currently an active angel investor with a portfolio of over 90 companies such as Food52, Sweeten, Vengo, Nestio, Phinand Phebes, Makers Row, Clutter, and Union Station. She has been involved in numerous real estate transactions from beginning to end and continues to make investments in that world. She is also an investor in a few restaurants in the New York area. In addition to these endeavors, Joanne has been involved in various education projects and served as chairperson at Hot Bread Kitchen, non-profit committed to increasing access to the culinary industry for woman and minority entrepreneurs. She also sits on the board of The Highline. Joanne has maintained her very popular blog, www.gothamgal.com for over 11 years and has recently take her talents to the airwaves on her podcast, ""Positively Gotham Gal"". She loves to bake, cook, throw a good party, travel, read, collect art, do the crossword and stay on top of what's happening around the globe and in NYC.Her most successful venture is being married to her best friend, Fred and raising their three kids- Jessica, Emily and Josh

Rahul Vohra is the Founder and CEO at Superhuman. He is also the Technical Advisor at BOLDstart Ventures and Investor & Advisor at Partender and Investor of sendwithus and EasyPost.Rahul Vohra is a former CEO and Co-Founder of Rapportive and Game Designer at Jagex. Rahul received a bachelor of arts in Computer Science at the University ofCambrigdge.

Bedy Yang is a Managing Partner at 500 Global, a Fellow at Kauffman Fellows, and a Lecturer at VC Unlocked at Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley. She is also the Founder of +INNOVATORS. Prior to that, he was a Management consultant at Integration Consulting. He attended FGV - Fundação Getulio Vargas and the University ofPennsylvania.

Russ co-founded Yelp Inc. in July 2004 with former colleague and friend Jeremy Stoppelman.Prior to Yelp, Russ was one of the early employees and the lead software architect at PayPal. He led a team of top engineers on critical projects related to security, scalability, stability, and internationalization as the company scaled rapidly. Followinghis time at PayPal, Russ joined Max Levchin's (co-founder of PayPal) incubator, where he teamed up with Jeremy.Russ holds a B.S. in computer science from the University of Illinois.

Casey Neistat is a Youtube sensation with 9.5 million subscribers and over 2 billion views. Neistat is also the co-founder of Beme, a video-editing social app.

Matthew Kaness

Balaji S. Srinivasan is the Co-Founder and Board Member of Coin Center. He was the CTO of Coinbase and cofounder of Counsyl, Earn, Teleport, and Coin Center. He was previously CEO at Earn.com, which was recently sold to Coinbase. Prior to taking the CEO role at Earn.com, Dr. Srinivasan was a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz. Prior to joininga16z, he was the co-founder and CTO of Founders Fund-backed Counsyl, where he won the Wall Street Journal Innovation Award for Medicine and was named to the MIT TR35. Dr. Srinivasan holds a BS, MS, and PhD in Electrical Engineering and an MS in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University. He also teaches the occasional class at Stanford, including an online MOOC in 2013 which reached 250,000+ students worldwide.

Arianna Simpson is a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz and a Founder at Autonomous Partners company.

Austin Rosen is the founder and CEO of Electric Feel Entertainment and Ventures.

Niv Dror is a Managing Partner at Shrug Capital.

Arielle Zuckerberg the youngest sister of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is joining Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in October 2015, in a bid by the firm to inject youth and diversity into its line-up of partners. (TechCrunch)

Daniel Kan is the Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at Cruise. He was formerly head of business development at customer-service startup UserVoice and will be running hiring and operations at Exec.

Margaret Stewart is the VP, Product Design & Responsible Innovation at Meta.She attended New York University.

Matt Iannelli previously served Netorian as CEO and Sr. systems engineer for over 11 years.

Jordan Levy is a General Partner at SoftBank Capital NY and also Managing Partner of Seed Capital Partners, an early stage venture capital fund that he co-founded in 1999.Prior to co-founding Seed Capital Partners, he was co-founder of ClientLogic and was President, co-CEO and co-Chair of its predecessor companies SOFTBANK Services Group andUCA (now SITEL Worldwide). Previously, Jordan was SVP of Software Etc,now GameStop (NYSE:GME) and prior to that he was also co-founder of Software Distribution Services, now known as Ingram Micro (NYSE:IM).Jordan currently serves on the boards of several technology companies including SocialFlow, Spanfeller Media, Synaptic Digital, COKeM Int. and is Chairman of Synacor (NASDAQ: SYNC). He is a Board Observer of Betaworks and Boxee. Previously, Jordan served on the boards of ZipList (sold to Condé Nast in 2012), OMGPOP (sold to Zynga in 2012), Hyperpublic (sold to Groupon in 2012), and KickApps (sold to KIT digital in 2011). He also is the first non-Native American on the Board of Seneca Holdings Corporation.Jordan is Chair of the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation, the State Agency responsible for the redevelopment of Buffalo’s vast historic waterfront. He is also on the Advisory Board for NYC Seed and a trustee of the University of Buffalo Foundation. He served for nine years as a trustee of the Albright Knox Art Gallery and is a past President of the Jewish Federation of Greater Buffalo.

Gerry Ruvo is a former CEO of Campari.

Taz Patel is a serial entrepreneur with multiple exits over the past decade who continues to support the startup ecosystem via mentorship, advisory and investing. Most recently, Taz co-founded Captiv8, an Influencer marketplace and SaaS platform funded by Social Capital, Liquid 2, Visionnaire, Jason Calacanis, Cyan Banister and strategic Angels.Before this, Taz was the Chief Revenue Officer of Republic Project, a startup funded by Google Ventures and later acquired by DG Sizmek in 2013. Before that, Taz led monetization efforts at Showyou App funded by True Ventures that was acquired by Vevo in 2015. His knowledge in social marketing, mobile/video advertising, and SaaS/Marketplace businesses is a personal passion that stems from early sales leadership roles at Interclick and BlueLithium, both of which were acquired by Yahoo! for $270 Million in 2011 and $300 Million in 2007. A Chicago native, Taz studied at the University of California, Berkeley and currently lives with his wife, son and dog in San Francisco.

Nik Sharma is a Founder of Superhuman.

Walt Doyle is the board director of Auction Holdings Inc.Walt sets the vision and strategy for the PayPal Media Network. As an outwardly facing CEO and strategist, Walt led the WHERE business for five years, which resulted in the April 2011 acquisition by PayPal. During this time, Walt built a world-class team of like-minded entrepreneurs andleaders around him.Walt’s passion for emerging technology has kept him on the leading edge of consumer media and technology for over 15 years. Prior to joining WHERE in 2005, Walt was a GM of MapQuest (AOL). His career began in Hong Kong with Dow Jones (DJ), then spanned executive level appointments with GameSpot (CNET), Net2Phone (IDT), and DialPad (YHOO). Walt’s ability to identify emerging technology trends, create corporate strategy, and build winning teams puts him squarely at the helm of the PayPal Media Network. Walt was named a finalist in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2010 program and was also named a Massachusetts High Tech All Star. Walt serves on the leadership board of the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council.Walt left San Francisco for his native home of Boston in 2005 where he and his family are outdoor enthusiasts who enjoy fishing, biking, hockey, and travel. He is a graduate of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

Bryan started his career in Montreal, pursuing a degree in Finance and Entrepreneurship at McGill University. In 1998, during his sophomore year, he founded Dynamo, a digital design studio that would later become his full-time job with a team of thirty-five. Over the course of 15 years, Dynamo established itself as a go-to partner forventure-backed startups in the e-commerce space, including brands like Blue Bottle Coffee, Samsung, the Honest Company, and Glossier. After Glossier launched in 2014, Bryan was tasked with helping the New York-based company build out their own in-house tech team. He ended up taking on the job himself and now serves as their Chief Technology Officer. At Glossier, Bryan’s focus has shifted to overseeing an international team of developers and data analysts as they work to create a forward-thinking experience for customers and build a technology infrastructure from the ground up. He lives with his wife and daughter in New York City.

Katelyn Donnelly is the General Partner at Avalanche VC. She attended Duke University.

Joe Plumeri is vice chairman of the First Data Board of Directors. Plumeri was originally appointed to the Board and as a senior advisor to KKR in August 2013. Since then he also has been serving as senior advisor to First Data Chairman and CEO Frank Bisignano, and as the head of First Data’s client delivery, innovation and marketing organization.He assumed the vice chairman role in May, 2014.Since joining First Data, Plumeri has played a pivotal role in the company’s transformation from a transaction processor to a payments technology company and solutions provider to merchants and financial institutions. He has spearheaded company-wide efforts to become more client-centric, including realigning how the company delivers solutions to and serves its global and strategic accounts, national merchants and enterprise clients, financial institutions, small business clients, bank partners and agents and ISO clients. Creating a superior client experience is part of this effort to better serve clients, build stronger relationships that foster business growth for clients, and deliver innovative solutions, including the Clover™ Station, a transformational point-of-sale solution for small and medium sized businesses.Prior to joining First Data, Plumeri served as chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Willis Group Holdings plc. Under his leadership, Willis strengthened its position as one of the world’s leading insurance brokers through sector-leading organic growth and operating margins, strategic expansion, a dedication to transparency and passionate client service.Appointed to lead Willis in 2000, Plumeri returned the company, which was privately held by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), to public ownership in 2001. When he assumed leadership of Willis, the company’s share price was $3, rising to $43 when he stepped down as chairman in 2013. Among Plumeri’s notable milestones while at Willis, in addition to the extraordinary return to shareholders, was his public leadership against conflicts of interest in the insurance industry. He also spearheaded Willis’ $2.1 billion acquisition of Hilb Rogal & Hobbs (HRH) in 2009, which was one of the largest transactions in the insurance industry in the last decade, and drove the deal to rename the Sears Tower as Willis Tower, then the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.Before joining Willis, Plumeri had a 32-year career at Citigroup and its predecessor companies. As CEO of Citibank North America, he led the integration of the consumer businesses at Citicorp and Travelers Group. He also served as chairman and CEO of Travelers Primerica Financial Services, vice chairman of the Travelers Group, and president and managing partner of Shearson Lehman Brothers.A widely admired leader in the insurance industry, Plumeri was named to Treasury & Risk magazine's list of "100 Most Influential People in Finance" in 2009 and 2010. He was also recognized by St. John's University School of Risk Management as Insurance Leader of the Year in 2006.Plumeri’s generous philanthropy over the decades has drawn many accolades, including appointment as the Grand Marshal of the 2011 Columbus Day Parade by the Columbus Citizen’s Foundation. Plumeri also serves on the boards of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse; Mount Sinai Medical Center; the Jackie Robinson Foundation; and the Churchill Museum at the Cabinet Ward Rooms in London.An avid sportsman and baseball entrepreneur, Plumeri is an owner of the Trenton Thunder, the AA-affiliate of the New York Yankees, and the Trenton Blue Claws, the A-affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies.In 2015 Plumeri published his first book, a national best seller, The Power of Being Yourself: A Game Plan for Success – by Putting Passion into Your Life and Work. In his book, based on his life experiences, Plumeri offers simple yet profound guidance on how to stay positive, motivate yourself and others and, achieve success in your life and work. All of the author’s proceeds from the book will be donated to the Make-a-Wish Foundation and the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University.Born in Trenton, N.J., Plumeri received his Bachelor of Arts in history and education from the College of William and Mary and attended New York Law School. In 2011, William and Mary awarded him an Honorary Doctorate of Public Service in honor of his philanthropic endeavors, where Plumeri delivered a speech to the 2011 graduates, titled "Go Play in Traffic (and Follow the Signs Along the Road)," that was recognized as one of the best commencement addresses of the year by the New York Times.

Gil Fuchsberg - Head of Corporate Development @ Roku

John Howard is the Co-Managing Partner at Irving Place Capital.John D. Howard is CEO of Irving Place Capital and was senior managing director of Bear Stearns. He is the manager of the $3 billion Bear Stearns Merchant Banking Fund III. Howard has more than 20 years of experience in the private equity business.

Elizabeth Colton is a senior PR & Events Manager Campari America.

Godai Furusawa - Chairman of the Board @ Climate Transition Swiss AG

Andrew Allison

Zach Nelson has more than 25 years of leadership experience in the high-tech industry, where he has held a variety of executive positions spanning marketing, sales, product development and business strategy with leading companies including Oracle, Sun Microsystems, and McAfee/Network Associates.Nelson has been CEO of NetSuite since 2002.Nelson led NetSuite's successful IPO in 2007 and its rise from start-up to the industry's leading provider of cloud computing business management software suites in the world. He was named to 2013 Business Insider's 50 Most Powerful People In Enterprise Tech list, and to Fortune magazine's 2012 Businessperson of the Year list.Nelson holds B.S. and M.A. degrees from Stanford University.

John Sabat

Carmelo Kiyam Anthony, of the New York Knicks, is a nine time NBA All-Star and has been an All NBA team member six times. He has been a member of the United States Olympic men's national team three times, winning a bronze medal in 2004 and gold medals in 2008 and 2012. In 2012, Carmelo set the USA men's Olympic team record for most pointsin a single game when he scored 37 points against Nigeria.Carmelo was born in the Red Hook projects in Brooklyn, New York. He was born to a Puerto Rican father and an African American mother. His father, after whom he is named, died of cancer when Carmelo was two years old. When he turned eight, his family moved to Baltimore, where he honed not only his athletic skills, but also his survival skills. Sports would serve as an important diversion from the violence and drug dealing that were pervasive in the housing projects a few blocks from the homes of Carmelo and his friends.Carmelo attended Syracuse University. In his freshman year, he led the Orangemen to their first ever National Championship and was named the NCAA Tournament's Most Outstanding Player.Carmelo also has a broad array of business interests. With Stuart Goldfarb, he is co-founder and partner of Melo7 Tech Partners, LLC, which invests in and develops opportunities primarily in early stage digital media, consumer internet and technology ventures. Stuart and Carmelo have also partnered in other ventures, including the award winning Vice Sports Clubhouse. Carmelo is the owner of Puerto Rico’s only professional sports team, the Puerto Rico Football Club (PRFC), which plays in the North American Soccer League (NASL). Carmelo is one of only three current NBA players who have a Jordan Brand signature shoe line.