List of the Top Family Offices

Fundraising from Family Offices? Here’s What You Need to Know.

Is your startup looking for investors? Consider pitching family offices to fund your raise.

What is a family office?

A family office is a private firm that manages the wealth of one or more ultra-high-net-worth families. While many focus on traditional asset management, a growing number are allocating capital directly into startups—especially in sectors where the family has industry experience or a personal mission.

There are two main types:

Single-family offices (SFOs): Manage the assets of one family
Multi-family offices (MFOs): Manage funds for multiple families, often structured like boutique investment firms

These groups tend to operate quietly. They rarely promote their investments publicly and typically rely on curated networks or personal referrals—making them harder to find unless you’re looking in the right places.

What makes family offices different from VCs and angel investors?

Family offices aren’t bound by the same constraints as institutional investors. They invest personal wealth, which gives them more flexibility in how they operate and what they’re optimizing for.

Unlike VCs, family offices don’t have to answer to LPs or exit within a set time horizon. They’re often less aggressive about terms, more willing to play long games, and more open to mission-aligned investing. Compared to angel investors, they usually write larger checks and may offer more stability in follow-on rounds.

That said, the lack of structure can be a double-edged sword. Some move quickly. Others stall out in backchannel reviews and family decision-making. Oftentimes, it's a relationship game more than a formal pitch process.

When does it make sense to raise from a family office?

Not every startup is a fit for family office capital—and that’s a good thing. Knowing when to prioritize these investors can save time and help you focus outreach where it matters.

It tends to make sense if:

• You’re raising a larger pre-seed or seed round and want a long-term partner

• Your startup is aligned with a mission-driven or legacy-oriented thesis (e.g. climate, education, health)

• You’re building in a capital-intensive industry that might not fit standard VC timelines

• You value relationship-based investing over high-pressure scaling and oversight

If you’re chasing blitz-scale growth and milestone-driven rounds, a traditional VC might be a better fit. But if you’re building deliberately and want a thoughtful partner who can stick with you across multiple stages, the right family office can be a game-changer.

What are the top family offices?

Well-known names like Bezos Expeditions, MSD Capital (Michael Dell), and Emerson Collective (Laurene Powell Jobs) get a lot of attention—but most high-performing family offices don’t have public-facing brands.

That’s the tricky part. The best family offices are rarely the ones with the most press. It’s the ones that:

• Have a thesis aligned with your business

• Have the flexibility to invest at your stage

• Will actually pick up the phone and make a deal

Doing that research manually is brutal. That’s where platforms like OpenVC and our family office directory come in.

How many family offices are located in the US?

The U.S. is home to the largest concentration of family offices globally—estimated at over 3,000 single-family offices, and thousands more multi-family offices.

Major hubs include:

📍 New York
📍 Los Angeles
📍 Miami
📍 San Francisco

The total number continues to grow as more generational wealth shifts toward direct investing. Many are still figuring out how to work with startups, which means timing and targeting matter.

How to Find the Right Family Offices on OpenVC

Most family office directories are either paywalled, outdated, or a mess of irrelevant contacts. OpenVC gives you a faster way to cut through the noise!

✅ Free access to active family offices investing in startups
⚡ Fast filtering by location, check size, thesis, and more
🔍 Verified profiles so you’re not pitching ghosts