I think you are mistaken. FundersClub curates the investments it brokers but the money comes from a (typically very large) group of independent investors. From

I think you are mistaken. FundersClub curates the investments it brokers but the money comes from a (typically very large) group of independent investors. From the FundersClub FAQ: FundersClub lets its members who are accredited investors invest in startup venture funds online... FundersClub manages the funds and provides value-add benefits to the startup companies we invest in, as well as the investors in our funds. No mention of kicking in their own funds. Perhaps there's a relatively trivial amount contributed by the FundersClub team from time to time but it's not the basis of their operation (Naval participates in some AngelList investments too). This is extremely similar to AngelList apart from the curation.