David Chang
About David Chang
David Chang is Co-founder and CEO of Via AI in Boston. Via AI builds relationship intelligence for B2B sales teams, helping them find warm paths to target accounts. The company's site says it was founded in late 2025. Crunchbase lists it as pre-seed and shows FoundersEdge among its funders. Chang was previously GM of the Expert Network at Hunt Club, which he joined in 2022.
He was CEO of Gradifi, which helped employers offer student loan paydowns as a benefit. E*TRADE acquired it in 2019, which The Boston Globe reported at $30 million. Before that he was Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Harvard Business School and Director of the Babson Summer Venture Program. He led the PayPal Boston office and co-founded the Start Tank innovation space and the Where Angel Fund. He was VP of Product at WHERE before PayPal acquired it in 2011, and later COO of the PayPal Media Network.
Earlier roles include TripAdvisor, m-Qube, edocs, SnapMyLife and Goldman Sachs. He holds a BS with Distinction in Computer Science from Cornell and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Wentworth Institute of Technology gave him an honorary doctorate in 2023. He is a 2026 trustee of the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council and sits on the inaugural board of Boston AI Week. His awards include the Boston Business Journal's Power 50 and a NEVY Angel of the Year finalist nod.
Chang's own site says he has made about 100 angel investments, and his bio page gives 110. Older bios cite 60 and 90, so the count has grown over time. Crunchbase lists fewer, with 26 investments in 25 portfolio companies, 0 lead investments and 11 exits. Public databases capture only part of his activity, so treat these figures as approximate.
He invests directly, through syndicates and funds, and through TBD Angels, a Boston angel group founded in February 2020. On his site he says he looks for startups where he knows the space and can help the founders. He adds that he has lately invested almost exclusively through TBD Angels.
In a Salesforce interview he said he looks for tenacious founders who find ways around obstacles. At the earliest stage he looks for ventures with option value that can reach the next growth stage and attract the next round of capital.
No public source gives a list of Chang's AI-specific angel investments. His AI work is mainly as an operator. He founded Via AI, an agentic AI and SaaS company. He spoke on the "Investing in AI" panel at the Boston AI Summit 2026, which covered defensibility, capital and durable advantage. LinkedIn also shows him on an "Entrepreneurs in AI" panel. TBD Angels describes him in that context as someone who sits on both sides of the table, as founder and as angel.
Crunchbase lists recent personal investments in Hermetica (seed) and Reasoner and Infringements (both pre-seed). The dates and deal terms are not visible in the public view, and the sources do not describe what these companies do, so founders should not read them as confirmed AI deals.
Stage: Chang's Crunchbase investments include pre-seed and seed rounds. He does not lead rounds, since Crunchbase records 0 lead investments.
Sectors: his NFX Signal profile says he is generally focused on software-enabled startups, typically web or mobile. TBD Angels, which he helped found, has invested across digital health, marketing tech, fintech, SaaS, e-commerce, physical products, consumer products and clean tech. Chang said this breadth reflects the expertise of the group's members.
Geography: he is based in Boston and works closely with the Boston and Massachusetts startup community.
Check size: NFX Signal lists an investment range of $5K to $50K with a sweet spot of $10K. This looks self-reported and is undated, so confirm it with him directly. Through TBD Angels, founders pitch a group rather than a single investor, and Chang described the group's process as moving in real time rather than in batches.
- Crashlytics: mobile crash reporting, acquired by Twitter. Direct investment.
- clypd: advertising technology, acquired by AT&T. Direct investment.
- CarePort Health: care coordination software, acquired by Allscripts. Direct investment.
- SmackHigh: acquired by DraftKings. Direct investment.
- Manicube: acquired by Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa. Direct investment.
- Nth Party: acquired by Magnite. Invested through TBD Angels.
- Unstack: acquired by Elastic Path. Invested through TBD Angels.
- Wishroute: acquired by Suggestic. Invested through TBD Angels.
- directr: acquired by Google. Invested through a syndicate or fund.
- Amino, Logz, Cuseum, Dashfire, Mogul and Uncharted Play: named in his bios as angel investments. Investment years are not public.
- crunchbase.com/person/david-s-chang
- davidchang.me/investing.html
- davidchang.me/bio.html
- signal.nfx.com/investors/david-chang
- connectvia.ai/about
- crunchbase.com/organization/via-ai-338b
- bostonglobe.com/tech-power-players/year/2023/person/david-chang-hunt-c
- angelinvestboston.com/yael-decapo-david-chang-tbd-angels
Investing activity
David Chang has made 26 investments according to Crunchbase across 25 portfolio companies, and has seen 11 exits and founded 5 companies.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about David Chang
Does David Chang invest in AI startups?
He is an active angel who now runs an AI company, Via AI, and speaks on AI investing. No public source lists his AI-specific angel deals, so ask him which of his recent investments are AI.
What check size does David Chang write?
NFX Signal lists a range of $5K to $50K with a sweet spot of $10K. The figure appears self-reported and is undated, so confirm it before pitching.
What stage does David Chang invest in?
His recorded investments are mostly pre-seed and seed. Crunchbase shows 0 lead investments, so he typically joins rounds led by others.
How do I pitch David Chang?
He invests mostly through TBD Angels, a Boston angel group, so applying to the group is a likely route. He has said he favors spaces he knows and where he can help. Founders in Boston software, marketing tech, fintech and similar areas are the closest fit.
What does David Chang look for in founders?
In a Salesforce interview he said he looks for tenacious founders who work through obstacles. At the earliest stage he also wants ventures with option value that can reach the next round of funding.
What companies has David Chang founded or run?
He co-founded Via AI and was CEO of Gradifi, which E*TRADE acquired in 2019. He also co-founded the Start Tank innovation space and the Where Angel Fund, and was GM of Hunt Club's Expert Network.
Is David Chang an angel investor?
Yes. David Chang invests personally as an angel. Crunchbase counts 26 investments and 11 exits.
Where is David Chang based?
David Chang is based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.
How can founders reach David Chang?
Founders on Lounge can see David Chang's contact details in AI Investor Contacts (paid plans), check for a warm introduction through members who worked with them under Warm Paths, and add David Chang to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.