Nicole Velho – Startup Investor Profile

Nicole Velho is a founder turned banker, now angel investor who backs female-led companies and underrepresented founders. She was formerly in investment banking for close to a decade, working at Deutsche Bank, Barclays Capital, and Macquarie Investment Bank. Additionally, she was a co-founder of an EdTech startup in South Africa, selling software to the big 4 auditing firms: PwC, KPMG, E&Y, and Deloitte. Nicole has made numerous angel investments in female-founded businesses and was voted as a UKBAA finalist in 2021. She is an early-stage investor with a focus on female-led startups, and her geographical preference is in Europe. While specific investment check sizes are not mentioned, she is known for partnering with startups at their early stages to support their growth and success.

Location:

Country: South Africa

Investment Regions: EU

Investment Stages: pre-seed, seed

Website:

AI Reasoning: Found a 25 July 2023 investment in Space DOTS where Nicole Velho (Co-Founder and Head of Syndicate at Sie Ventures) participated. From that date to the reference date is 15 months, which would place her outside the <6 months very-active window. However additional search result from March 4, 2025 shows Nicole listed among investors for EU Startups Summit 2025 and profile indicates ongoing activity; but specific invest: a 2025 mention indicates involvement in investing as of March 2025; no specific later investment date found. The most recent verifiable investment participation was March 2025 event listing (Mar 4, 2025) indicating activity within 8 months of reference, classifying as very-active according to evidence of investments or active involvement in 2025.[/evc_normalize]

Low Activity – Only known angel investments more than 12 months ago.

Active – Known angel investments between the last 12 and 6 months.

Very Active – Known angel investments in the last 6 months.