Ismaili Tech Angels
Capital, mentorship and an extensive network from leaders, founders and operators who have built and scaled significant technology companies.
Our mission
Support our communities in creating tech companies with significant scale and impact.
Who we are
We are founders, operators and executives who have built and scaled significant tech companies.
We back founders building real tech companies with real traction.
Who we invest in
We identify and support only the highest-potential teams and companies that already have proof points of real traction.
You're all in, with deep credibility and unique knowledge and skill in your market.
You're starting small but thinking big — really big. There is a path to significant scale and impact.
You have product-market fit, customers, revenue and a model that works.
We don't lead rounds. We join as strategic investors and advisors alongside your lead investors, and help you navigate funding terms, governance and economics as trusted inside partners.
A note on focus. Our experience is primarily in B2B enterprise software — these are the companies we're uniquely positioned to support, and where we typically concentrate our involvement. Founders in other spaces are welcome to apply, but if we don't feel we have the right set of experiences to support you, we may still decline regardless of the strength of the business or the entrepreneur.
How we help
It's less about advice and more about sharing experience. We've built businesses across different sectors, market conditions, funding strategies and competitive dynamics. Your market and situation are always unique — it's on you to translate that experience into takeaways for your business. We give you data points and challenge your thinking; you make and own the call.
Our networks are extensive. One introduction from someone with a board seat, or a company they built, can open a door that cold outreach never will.
Your primary capital comes from your lead investor. We add $25K to $100K in seed, Series A or Series B rounds and join you as your unfair advantage.
What founders don't get
This is for founders who are already moving and want to move faster with trusted advice. We don't want board seats. We are builders and founders ourselves. We've seen the ups and downs, have significant experience, and we are here to support our community. This is our passion, not our main business.
Team
Mentor
Founded OneTrust and built it into a privacy and data platform with 10,000+ customers and over $500M in ARR. #1 on the 2020 Inc. 500 list of America's fastest-growing companies.
LinkedIn ↗
Mentor
Founder of Worth, Stax Payments, and host of the top-100 podcast CEO School. As founder of Stax Payments, she built one of America's top 10 fastest-growing fintech companies, scaling it from an idea to over $140M in recurring revenue and exiting above a $1 billion valuation — the first female CEO to lead a unicorn out of Florida. Now building her next company, Worth, creating the first-ever business credit score. Recognized by Fortune's 40 Under 40, EY's Entrepreneur of the Year, and Inc.'s 100 Female Founders.
LinkedIn ↗
Mentor
Former president and CEO of Paymetric, acquired by Vantiv / WorldPay for $550 million. Founder and CEO of VentureWorx. Former board member, investor and advisor to Stax Payments, a payments unicorn. Chairman, co-founder, investor and board member of Worth AI. Serves on numerous boards including TeamSnap, Flute Payments and MountainSeed.
LinkedIn ↗
Mentor
Co-founded and led Altru, a video recruiting platform acquired by iCIMS for a reported $60M. Techstars alum. Now building his next company.
LinkedIn ↗
Mentor
Founded his first startup at 19. Founded and led Stax Payments, one of America's top 10 fastest-growing fintech companies, building it into a billion-dollar technology platform. Now Co-Founder and CEO of Worth, an AI-powered financial underwriting and risk management platform. Honored with the Orlando Business Journal's Top 40 Under 40 and the University of Florida's 40 Under 40.
LinkedIn ↗
Mentor
Head of Engineering at Shopify, which he joined through its acquisition of Helpful.com, where he was co-founder and CTO. Previously CTO, Mobile at Pivotal and VP, Engineering at Pivotal Labs, joined through Pivotal's acquisition of Xtreme Labs. An avid investor (134+ investments) and advisor to startups in Toronto and San Francisco, including mentoring at Y Combinator and First Round Capital. MBA in Financial Engineering from Rotman; Computer Science/EE from Waterloo.
LinkedIn ↗Interested in becoming a mentor? Contact us →
Operations
Leads screening and diligence. Student at the Wharton School. Incoming at Insight Partners Investment Team. Building.
LinkedIn ↗
Diligence
Master's student at Columbia University; BS from Syracuse's Falk School of Sport and Human Dynamics. Investor in Synaptica and Cloverly. Founder of Hirro.
LinkedIn ↗Process
Send your deck. No AI-created decks or content will be considered.
Our diligence team reviews and builds a shortlist.
We tell you where you stand.
Our bar is high — we'll be extremely direct with you on where you stand and our observations.
A decision will be clearly communicated.
Portfolio company case study
Their mission: give every athlete, coach and league, at every level, the same video intelligence the pros use.
Co-Founder & CEO
Co-Founder & CTO
The company story
AirPLAi uses artificial intelligence and computer vision to turn footage from any video into customized sports intelligence — powering player stats, scouting and coaching tools, highlights, and interactive fan experiences. In its first year the team has scaled fast, from the pros to the grassroots.
Sports built in year one
Pro teams, leagues, governing bodies & rec sports
MIT Sloan '25, Chicago & Seattle startup competitions
Featured in Sports Business Journal
As Danish and Amaan raised capital to accelerate the company's growth, mentors from Ismaili Tech Angels joined the round as investors and advisors. We're proud to support the team as they build.
Visit airplaisports.com →How to apply
No required format. Show us the team, the traction and what you'll do with the capital. No AI-created decks or content will be considered.
Our focus is primarily B2B enterprise software, where we can add the most value — but founders in any space are welcome to apply.