TOP 7 COREangels Angel Investors and Fund Leaders of 2024
COREangels Day 2024, held on November 11th, brought together our global community of angel investors, fund leaders and founders of our startups in an inspiring celebration of this year’s milestones and a glimpse into what 2025 holds for us all.
This year’s event was particularly special, as it featured two exciting new segments: a live startup pitch showcase and the debut of the Angel Investors Awards and Fund Leaders Awards, honoring the remarkable contributors who drive COREangels' vision forward. From exceptional investors to visionary fund leaders, these awards celebrate individuals who have shown unparalleled commitment, ingenuity, and impact within our global network.
At COREangels, our mission goes beyond investments; we’re building a thriving community of collaborative leaders and forward-thinking angels who believe in empowering entrepreneurs to reshape the future of innovations and technology. This spirit of collaboration and excellence was at the heart of this year’s awards. The winners and nominees are more than just outstanding professionals — they are catalysts for innovation, connection, and growth across the COREangels ecosystem.
In this article, we proudly present the TOP 7 COREangels Angel Investors and Fund Leaders of 2024, nominated by our community to celebrate and acknowledge the COREangels community.
Category: The Smartest Money Award
Fund: COREangels Lisbon
A business developer and angel investor at heart, Isabel entered COREangels as one of COREangels Lisbon’s angel investors. Most recently, she became an Angel Fund Leader through her newly established angel fund, COREangels Food.
Nevertheless, giving due praise to the remaining nominees, Isabel Faria winning “The Smartest Money Award ” is a testament to her exceptional dedication to advancing COREangels Lisbon. Meant for the angel who provides the most strategic value beyond capital, this award also recognizes Isabel’s honest, clear feedback while leading the fund’s Involvement Board, ensuring that every startup is well-supported, living up to what it means to be an archangel in the COREangels community.
Nominees
Emilio Deik (COREangels Pacific)
Ignacio Lago Fernández (COREangels Madrid)
Alexander Griekspoor (COREangels Climate & COREangels Lisbon)
Joaquim Garcia (COREangels Atlantic)
Mar Resa (COREangels Barcelona)
Category: Network Connector Award
Fund: COREangels Climate & COREangels Lisbon
While Gabriel Calgaro and Matthias Fehr were also worthy nominees, Alexander Griekspoor was the one who took the award home. The COREangels Climate & COREangels Lisbon angel investor, who started out developing apps while studying Biology, was deemed as the angel who excelled at making the most impactful connections within the COREangels ecosystem, aligning capital and opportunity, connecting angels, startups, and new investors while supporting several COREangels funds.
Nominees
Gabriel Calgaro (COREangels Pacific)
Matthias Fehr (COREangels Barcelona)
Category: Portfolio Builder Award
Fund: COREangels Lisbon
The business angel has a long track record of scouting and developing promising startups, thus making him the just winner of an award which recognizes the angel who brought the best startups to Investment Committees of their fund. Pedro’s incredible impact in scouting and selecting startups has been a driving force of COREangels Lisbon, seeing him display the motivation and dedication of a true archangel.
Nominees
Wilson Pais (COREangels Pacific)
Antônio Bizzo (COREangels Atlantic)
Category: Archangel Award
Fund: COREangels Atlantic
The Archangel Award recognizes an angel who is in closer contact with one particular startup (sometimes even more), understanding the business and its challenges, and bringing other angels in for support, showing them consistent support and ultimately contributing to their progress.
With Isabel Margarita Bravo, Giancarlo Bonsel and Miguel Eguizabal as nominees, the award went to the late Alex Vieira Pinto. Alex’s dedication, especially to Palqee, helped bring the dreams of entrepreneurs to life, offering his wisdom and guidance as a true champion of innovation. He was deeply involved with COREangels Atlantic, joining in 2019 and becoming the cherished archangel of both KnowCode and Palqee. Maurizio Calcopietro received the award in his stead, recognizing and honoring Alex as the angel who showed the most consistent support to startups, enabling their progress.
In the words of his son: “The role of an investor truly brought out a new spark in my father. It was always something he spoke about with great energy and perspective. I feel very grateful that he had this experience with you.”. We honor Alex’s memory and wish him a peaceful final journey. His spirit, support, and kindness remain an inspiration to us all.
Nominees
Isabel Margarita Bravo (COREangels Pacific)
Giancarlo Bonsel (COREangels Lisbon)
Miguel Eguizabal (COREangels Barcelona)
Category: The Investor of the Year Award
Fund: COREangels Pacific
This award’s nominees consisted of: Alexander Griekspoor, Luís Henrique Vasconcelos, Mohamed ElGamal and Ulrich Geilinger, with the award winner being Chris Vallejo Schwarzenbach.
The COREangels Pacific angel investor has a long history of investing in digital and financial solutions. His substantial contributions made him our largest investor by ticket size, but Chris also provides invaluable support in startup analysis, reinforcing his commitment year after year.
Nominees
Alexander Griekspoor (COREangels Climate & COREangels Lisbon)
Luís Henrique Vasconcelos (COREangels Atlantic)
Mohamed ElGamal (COREangels Lisbon)
Ulrich Geilinger (COREangels Barcelona)
Category: COREangels Fundraising Master Award
Fund: COREangels Big Data and AI
Stepping into the Leader Nominations, the COREangels Fundraising Master Award aimed to recognize the fund leader who demonstrated exceptional dedication and skill in raising funds, expanding COREangels’ reach and impact.
With Jorge Martinez Arroyo, an inspiring leader in his own right, as the runner-up, David Griesbach received the Fundraising Master Award. His extensive, successful journey through investing, development and consulting is only matched by his commitment to further propel the COREangels ecosystem forward.
Nominees
Jorge Martinez Arroyo (COREangels EnterpriseTech)
Rui Falcão (COREangels Lisbon)
Category: COREangels Spirit Award
Fund: COREangels Barcelona
Lastly, the COREangels Spirit Award was presented, ending the award ceremony. While Maurizio Calcopietro was rightfully recognized as a nominee, Urs Rothmayr was selected as the winner!
The COREangels Barcelona Co-Founder was deemed as the fund leader who truly embodied the COREangels spirit of collaboration, support, and dedication. The startups scouted and invested, the events attended and all the conference talks given in order to advance COREangels and all of its members undoubtedly speaks volumes regarding Urs’s commitment to the COREangels cause - to create a global community of angel investors!
Nominees
Maurizio Calcopietro (COREangels Atlantic)
Rui Falcão (COREangels Lisbon)
