West Suburban Angels

Co-Founder and Executive Director Ted Clark leads the central screening committee that evaluates roughly 200 startup applications per year, selecting 36 for live pitches. Individual investment decisions are then made independently by each member, who commits their own capital. John A. Johnson, the other co-founder, remains a principal of the group.

Deal flow derives from the group's geographic concentration in Chicago's western suburbs and its relationships with local universities. West Suburban Angels sponsors pitch competitions at Northwestern University and the University of Chicago, surface pre-seed and seed-stage companies before they reach institutional funds. The screening committee additionally reviews direct founder submissions and referrals from members' professional networks.

Neither. West Suburban Angels is a member-governed angel investment network, not a managed venture fund. The group does not pool capital into a single vehicle — it facilitates individual investment decisions by accredited members in companies sourced through a centralized screening process. No management fees are charged; members pay annual dues to support sourcing and operations.

The group is designed for direct early-stage equity investments, typically ranging from $25,000 to $100,000 per member per deal. West Suburban Angels does not operate as a fund-of-funds and is not known to make commitments into third-party venture capital vehicles.

West Suburban Angels does not publish a banned-sector list, but observable portfolio concentrations are in enterprise software, AI/ML, digital health, fintech, and mobility. The group shows no known activity in energy, hard infrastructure, or capital-intensive manufacturing — a profile consistent with its member base of individual angels seeking technology-focused, asset-light early-stage companies.