Great Lakes Angels

What Great Lakes Angels does

Great Lakes Angels is a Michigan-based angel investor network that operates as a sub-brand within CitySide Ventures LLC, a privately held venture group founded in 2018 and headquartered at 34300 Woodward Ave, Birmingham, Michigan. The firm serves two primary customer segments: early-stage startups seeking pre-seed and seed capital in Michigan, and individual angel investors seeking curated deal flow. Its core offering is structured around three service pillars — pitch.it (startup pitching), fund.it (capital deployment), and scale.it (growth scaling) — supplemented by Startup Advisory services and the Birmingham Angels investor network. Great Lakes Angels was originally founded in 2002 and has been integrated into the CitySide Ventures platform.

The platform is built on a technology-driven investor stack centered on SidePitch (app.sidepitch.ai), a self-serve platform through which startups submit pitches and investors access deal flow. Supporting distribution includes The Angels Brief podcast, blog content, social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, X), events, and an email newsletter. The firm claims 50+ active investors, 50+ venture partners, and 100+ portfolio companies, with $1M in capital invested through the platform to date.

CitySide Ventures generates revenue through transaction-based activity tied to angel investment returns flowing to its investor network from equity investments in early-stage startups; management fees, carried interest, and advisory fees are implied but not publicly disclosed. Leadership is anchored by CEO Patti Glaza and President Rick Galdi. The firm operates exclusively in Michigan today, though mission language signals intent to scale the angel investor movement globally via the platform.

Name

Great Lakes Angels

Legal name

CitySide Ventures LLC

Website

https://citysideventures.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Great Lakes Angels is a Michigan-based angel investor network, operated within CitySide Ventures, that deploys early-stage capital into Michigan startups via a technology-driven platform combining pitching, funding, and scaling services for a network of 50+ active investors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Angel Investing / Early-Stage Venture Capital

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (52394)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Micro-VC & Angel Funds (FSANAAAI)

Keywords

• Angel investor network
• Early-stage venture capital
• Startup funding platform
• Angel investing services
• Seed-stage investments

Headquarters

HQ city

Birmingham

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Angel Investment Returns: As an angel investment group, CitySide Ventures generates returns through equity investments in early-stage startups. Returns flow to the investor network and the platform through successful exits.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Great Lakes Angels, operating under CitySide Ventures LLC, is an angel investment group that deploys early-stage equity capital into Michigan-based startups. The platform connects founders pitching their businesses (pitch.it) with a network of 50+ active angel investors and venture partners for funding (fund.it), and provides post-investment scaling support (scale.it) alongside Birmingham Angels, a regional investor network.

Product overview

CitySide Ventures operates as a technology-driven investor platform offering a unified ecosystem of startup support services. The platform is built around three core service pillars: pitch.it (for startup pitching), fund.it (for capital deployment), and scale.it (for growth acceleration). These are complemented by Birmingham Angels (an angel investor network platform) and Startup Advisory services (high-impact advisory consulting). The company positions itself as a next-generation venture group bringing Angel investing 2.0 to Michigan.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Birmingham Angels: Regional angel investor network operating under the CitySide Ventures platform

Products and services

• pitch.it Startup pitching service that allows founders to present their business to CitySide Ventures investors through the SidePitch platform. Designed for early-stage startups in Michigan seeking capital.
• fund.it Capital funding service connecting vetted startups with early-stage equity investment from CitySide Ventures' angel investor network. Designed for startups that have successfully pitched and are ready for capital deployment.
• scale.it Growth scaling service to help funded portfolio startups expand operations and reach their next milestones after receiving investment.
• Birmingham Angels Regional angel investor network under CitySide Ventures that connects active investors with startup investment opportunities, primarily in the Birmingham, Michigan area. Operates as the core investor community for the Great Lakes Angels platform.
• Startup Advisory High-impact advisory service providing guidance to early-stage startups on strategy, growth, and investor readiness. Sourced through scheduled Discovery Dialogues with the CEO.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Birmingham AngelscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBirmingham Angels is part of CitySide Ventures' platform, serving as the core investor network group. It operates as the primary vehicle for angel investing activities in the Michigan startup ecosystem.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Y Combinator: Premier global startup accelerator deploying seed capital into thousands of early-stage companies. Comparable as the archetypal early-stage capital provider, though at vastly larger scale and with a different funnel model.
• Angel Capital Association: Trade association of angel groups across the US. Comparable as the umbrella ecosystem in which a regional angel network like Great Lakes Angels / Birmingham Angels operates and benchmarks itself.
• Techstars: Global accelerator and early-stage investor with a large network and structured mentorship. Comparable as a broader early-stage capital and ecosystem player, but operating at much larger scale than CitySide's micro-VC model.

Direct peers

• MicroVentures: Micro-VC and online investment platform offering curated angel and pre-IPO deals. Comparable as a fund/platform hybrid serving individual angel investors with lower minimums.
• FundersClub: Online venture capital platform running angel-style syndicates and venture funds. Comparable as a tech-enabled vehicle that pools angel capital into curated early-stage deals.
• AngelList: The dominant online platform connecting angel investors with early-stage startups via syndicates and rolling funds. Direct comparable to CitySide's SidePitch platform in enabling tech-mediated angel deal flow.
• Republic: Retail and angel investment platform offering community-driven startup investing with strong content and brand. Comparable as a technology-first angel investing platform targeting both founders and investors.
• Wefunder: Online angel and Regulation Crowdfunding platform enabling broad investor participation in early-stage rounds. Comparable to CitySide's mission of democratizing and scaling angel investing via a tech platform.
• SeedInvest: Equity crowdfunding and angel investing platform with curated deal flow. Comparable as a regulated online platform connecting angel investors to vetted early-stage startups.
• Gust: SaaS platform powering angel investor networks with deal-flow, screening, and syndication tools. Comparable as the underlying technology layer for organized angel investing, similar in function to SidePitch.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CitySideVP
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@TheAngelsBrief
• Facebookfacebook.com/citysidevc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/city-side-ventures

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Great Lakes Angels