Abstract

This article investigates the motivations of a large global sample of micro angels – small investors who provide financial support and advice to early-stage entrepreneurs, with whom they often have close ties. It is explored how four distinct motivations—contributing to society, accumulating wealth, keeping a family tradition, or fulfilling an economic need—influence micro angels’ investment decisions. Statistical analysis reveals that for potential investors, contributing to society and keeping a family tradition are frequently more important drivers than simply accumulating wealth. Furthermore, impact-oriented micro angels tend to prefer funding unfamiliar entrepreneurs with good business ideas over family members. This preference is even more pronounced in altruistic countries. These findings generally hold true across various model specifications and sample periods. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2025.