Australia has no official ranking of angel investors, but one public scoreboard exists: Techboard's Australian Angel Awards, which count confirmed investments. Its 2018 to 2022 winners include Bill Grierson, Richard Moore and Brisbane Angels, which won the most-active-group award from 2019 to 2022. Melbourne Angels and Sydney Angels are also profiled, in no particular order, with a source for every fact.
Who are Australia's most active angel investors?
The best public record is the Techboard Australian Angel Awards, whose "most active" categories go to the people and groups with the most confirmed new investments. The winners lists used for this page run from 2018 to 2022, so the data is several years old; Techboard publishes newer years. In no particular order, the individuals it has recognized are:
Jordan Green. President of Melbourne Angels, named Angel of the Year at the 2019 awards.
Bill Grierson. Recognized as Australia's most active angel for 2018, with 22 investments in 16 companies, four of them new deals and the rest follow-ons. The same report says he made nearly 80 investments in 48 companies over the previous five years, in Australia, New Zealand and other countries. He won again in 2019, when the awards report lists him as a Melbourne Angels member with 13 qualifying investments, all follow-ons.
Tim Hirst. Named Angel of the Year for 2022, according to Startup Daily's recap, published in November 2023.
Richard Moore. A Brisbane Angels member who won most active angel investor in 2021, with 14 investments over the year, and again in 2022.
Susan Oliver. Co-founder of Scale Investors and chair of the Alice Anderson Fund, named Angel of the Year at the 2021 awards in the same Startup Daily report.
Grierson also explained how he works in the 2018 report. He lists three habits: keep enough capital in reserve for follow-on rounds, "hunt wide and hunt often" by sourcing from nine angel groups in four countries, and be kind to founders.
Which angel groups appear in the Australian record?
Groups matter in Australia because they pool diligence while members invest individually.
Brisbane Angels took the most-active-group award from 2019 to 2022. The 2019 awards credit it with 29 qualifying investments in 24 companies, and the 2022 recap says it won for the fourth year in a row with 37 qualifying investments in over 30 companies, up from 32 the year before. It also took the best angel exit award in 2021 for its Arkose Labs investment and in 2022 for Clipchamp.
Melbourne Angels describes itself on its Global Entrepreneurship Network profile as a non-profit and one of the longest-operating angel groups in Australia, founded in early 2007 by eight people with founder, executive and venture backgrounds. Its members invest individually and directly. The profile says the group is not a fund and does not invest directly or act as an agent.
Sydney Angels says on its site, as of October 2026, that its more than 100 members have invested in Australian startups since 2008 and that it has backed over 90 companies. The same page describes its process. There is no application fee, applications are reviewed weekly across six investment cycles a year, the top six startups are invited to a deal screening meeting, and the top three present to a members meeting. It does not state a typical check size.
Regional groups appear in the awards too: the Rockhampton Angel Network in 2021 and Byron Bay Angels in 2022, with seven investments, took the regional category. Grierson's example shows that individual angels can work across several groups at once, since he sourced deals from nine of them.
How big is the market around them?
Angels sit inside a market that grew in 2025. The State of Startup Funding report from Cut Through Venture and Folklore Ventures, covered by Forbes Australia in February 2026, counted about $5.1 billion across 390 deals in 2025, up 24 percent. Median pre-seed deals passed $1 million and seed rounds neared $3 million. The article does not break out angel money, so these totals cover every kind of investor. The awards data above predates them by three to seven years, so the two should not be read as one series.
Does the ESIC tax offset change an angel's math?
For many Australian angels the early stage innovation company (ESIC) rules matter. Grant Thornton's August 2023 summary says investors get a tax offset of 20 percent of the amount invested, capped at $200,000 for sophisticated investors and $10,000 for others. Capital gains on shares held for at least 12 months and less than 10 years are disregarded.
The company has to pass two tests. The early-stage test looks at its incorporation date and the previous year's income and expenses. The innovation test can be met either by scoring 100 points under the tax office's criteria or by a principles-based test that asks whether the company is developing a new or significantly improved product with high growth potential and the ability to scale across a broad market. The firm recommends a private binding ruling from the tax office for certainty, especially under the subjective principles test, and notes that the tax office applies the measures strictly. This is general information, not tax advice, and the offset and caps are as that firm described them in 2023.
Where to read next
The broader playbook is in how to find angel investors for your startup and how to join an angel group or syndicate. If investors outside Australia are involved, read the international angel investing guide and how to raise funding from international investors, and see how much angel investors invest for check sizes. More lists are in the angel investing section.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q:Is there an official list of the top angel investors in Australia?
No. The closest public record is the Techboard Australian Angel Awards, which recognize the most active individuals and groups by confirmed investments. They measure activity, not results, and the lists used for this page cover 2018 to 2022.
Q:Which Australian angel group is the most active?
Brisbane Angels won the most active group award every year from 2019 through 2022, according to Startup Daily's recap of the 2022 awards. The awards count qualifying new investments, and later years are on Techboard's site.
Q:How much do Australian angels invest per deal?
The sources used here do not publish a typical check for these groups. Sydney Angels' site does not state one, and the funding report's median deal sizes of over $1 million at pre-seed and about $3 million at seed in 2025 describe whole rounds, not single angels.
Q:What is an ESIC?
An early stage innovation company is a startup that meets tax-office tests for being early-stage and innovative. Investors in one can claim a 20 percent tax offset up to a cap and may have capital gains disregarded after holding for 12 months, according to Grant Thornton's 2023 summary. The company's status determines whether either applies.