Comparison · 10 material differences
Band of Angels vs Searchfunder
This comparison was generated on request from the records. It carries no editorial verdict and is not indexed. The published comparisons are listed on the compare page.
Read down each column for one organization, across a row for the difference. A bronze mark at the left of a cell means the organizations differ on that row. A dash or “not published” means the organization does not disclose the fact; it is not a zero.
Verified September 2026
Investment community
Verified September 2026 Band of Angels
Accredited investors who are successful current or former high-technology founders and executives
Investment community
Searchfunder
Search fund entrepreneurs (searchers), the investors who back them, plus lenders, business brokers and advisers working in the lower middle market
What the records say
- Role or title: Band of Angels: Members are generally successful high-technology founders or executives with an interest in mentoring startups; Searchfunder: No published role or title.
- Accredited-investor status: Band of Angels: Members must be accredited investors; Searchfunder: No published accredited-investor status.
- Annual dues: Band of Angels: Not publicly disclosed. Band of Angels publishes no membership dues and no reliable third-party figure was found.; Searchfunder: $228 a year.
Side by side
| Band of Angels | Searchfunder | |
|---|---|---|
| Profile | ||
| Type | Investment community | Investment community |
| Founded | 1994 (Founded by Johannes C. (Hans) Severiens, a former nuclear physicist, Wall Street analyst and venture capitalist, who died in February 2004. The first meeting was held with twelve people.) | Not documented |
| Headquarters | Menlo Park, United States | United States |
| Geographic footprint | Silicon Valley, with a secondary Southern California meeting location | Online, global; members are concentrated in the United States with regional discussion groups for other markets |
| Members | 150as of September 2026 | Not publicly disclosed: Searchfunder states that "over 80% of those involved in searchfunds maintain a Searchfunder account" but publishes no member total |
| Chapters | No chapters; monthly meetings are held in Silicon Valley with a secondary Southern California location. | Not applicable: Searchfunder is an online platform with no chapters |
| Primary audience | Accredited investors who are successful current or former high-technology founders and executives | Search fund entrepreneurs (searchers), the investors who back them, plus lenders, business brokers and advisers working in the lower middle market |
| Typical member | Members are typically successful high-technology founders or executives who are accredited investors and interested in mentoring startups. They invest as individuals rather than through a pooled vote. | Members are searchers pursuing entrepreneurship through acquisition, search fund and independent sponsor investors, lenders, brokers and service providers. The site notes that many members come from dedicated ETA programmes at Harvard Business School, Stanford GSB and Chicago Booth, while also saying that searching is no longer limited to those routes. |
| Qualification | ||
| Role or title | Members are generally successful high-technology founders or executives with an interest in mentoring startupsDescribed as the typical member profile rather than an absolute rule; the Band states it accepts both sponsored candidates and applicants unknown to the group provided they meet the basic criteria.verified September 2026 · source ↗ | No published role or title |
| Accredited-investor status | Members must be accredited investorsverified September 2026 · source ↗ | No published accredited-investor status |
| Invitation required | Yes | No |
| Sponsor required | Sometimes | No |
| Application process | There are two routes. A current member may sponsor a candidate, or a prospective member may attend a Band Deal Dinner, complete a member information form and meet the membership committee informally. If both sides confirm a fit, an invitation to join follows. Enquiries go to the Band's membership address. | Users register an account directly on the site. A free account gives limited access; a paid subscription unlocks the member directory, the search fund list, research reports, contact credits and posting rights. No sponsorship, interview or committee review is described. |
| Selectivity | Not publicly disclosed. The Band states it will consider candidates unknown to the group as well as sponsored ones, but publishes no acceptance data. | Not publicly disclosed: no vetting or approval process is described on the public pages |
| Cost | ||
| Annual dues | Not publicly disclosed. Band of Angels publishes no membership dues and no reliable third-party figure was found.verified September 2026 | $228 a yearAnnual subscription, quoted on the homepage as "$19 / month" billed annually, $228 for twelve monthsverified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| Monthly dues | Not publicly disclosed | $79 a monthMonthly subscription, quoted on the homepage as "$79 / month"verified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| Initiation fee | Not publicly disclosed | Not publicly disclosed: no joining fee is published; basic registration appears to be freeverified September 2026 |
| Membership term | Annual | Monthly or annual subscription, or a one-off lifetime purchase; continuous accounts over four years convert to permanent access |
| Structure | ||
| Meeting frequency | Monthly, held without exception since 1994 | No organisation-run meeting calendar; members post and attend third-party events such as the Stanford and IESE search fund conferences |
| Peer forums | Monthly Band Deal Dinners with company presentations and member-led due diligence teams; investments are made individually with no pooling or voting | Public and topic-based online discussion threads, including geography-specific groups; no confidential small-group forums |
| Confidentiality | Members are expected to maintain confidentiality | Could not be independently verified: much of the platform's content is public and no confidentiality regime is published |
| Time commitment | Attendance at roughly one third of monthly meetings a year, per the organisation's stated expectations | Not documented |
| Organized as | Event-focused | Virtual, Event-focused |
| Confidential peer forums | Partial | Partial |
| Local chapters | No | No |
| Virtual membership | Not documented | Yes |
| Online community | Not documented | Yes |
| Member directory | Not documented | Yes |
| Events | Yes | Partial |
| Programming | ||
| Educational programming | Partial | Partial |
| Leadership development | No | No |
| Retreats | No | No |
| Travel | No | No |
| Family programming | No | No |
| Spouse and partner programming | No | No |
| Next-generation programming | No | No |
| Investment discussions | Yes | Yes |
| Investment opportunities | Yes | Yes |
| Philanthropic component | No | No |
| Networking emphasis | High | High |
| Social emphasis | Medium | Low |
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Last verified: not yet reviewed
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Sources
Drawn from the sources listed on each page: Band of Angels · Searchfunder