Angela Jackson

Fund(s): FirstStep Fund
Location: Portland

Angela Jackson is co-founder and managing director of the Portland Seed Fund, a top-performing private/public seed fund with 3 funds/$23 Million under management. The Fund has invested in  ~100 high growth, capital-efficient companies in sectors including technology, energy, health and consumer product, primarily in the Northwest. Since 2011, the portfolio has realized numerous accretive exits while achieving stellar metrics for place-based investing/economic impact and backing diverse teams. Ms. Jackson also oversees the award-winning Portland State University Business Accelerator, with 20+ resident health/tech startups, propelling PSU to a top-10 spot on US News & World Report's Most Innovative Colleges list. 

Earlier in her career, Ms. Jackson was a founding investor in Oregon Angel Fund and advised/invested in companies in multiple sectors, leading to several of the largest liquidity events in the region. She was a president of the Portland chapter of Keiretsu Forum, a Principal at Emergent Fund, and served as Chair of Angel Oregon, a premier angel investment competition. She was named 2018 Tech Champion of the Year by Technology Association of Oregon, and a Woman of Influence in 2015 by Portland Business Journal, and was a delegate to the US State Department's Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Hyderabad, India last year. She serves on the boards of Lumen Learning, the Oregon Film Board and the Angel Capital Association, and is a frequent judge/mentor for entrepreneur pitch competitions locally and globally. Ms. Jackson credits her serial entrepreneur family history with her comfort in the trenches of early stage investment. She holds a B.A. in English and history from Boston University and a M.A. in environmental studies from University of Oregon.