AngelList is hot, which I guess is appropriate for a heavenly investment vehicle.

The dating service for startups and investors announced today that it has helped startups raised over $12.3 million in December alone — a number it is now tracking live on its home page. Only last month AngelList had said that via a partnership with SecondMarket, it would be enabling accredited but not necessarily super-wealthy investors to micro-invest, putting as little as $1000 into startups.

Some might call that the ultimate spray-and-pray strategy, but others would say it’s a great opportunity for smaller investors to safely diversify.

Most of that $12.3 million is a result of an introduction online on AngelList, followed by a subsequent face-to-face meeting or at least live call: a fairly traditional and only slightly technology-augmented process. But a growing number is via AngelList’s brand-new “invest online” feature, which allows investors to make an investment decision — and an actual investment — entirely online.

In other words, Amazon.com for angel investments.

After making the new feature live just last week — which does require significant vetting of participating startups, and the participation of a venture capital firm to lead the investment — AngelList has already helped startups raise $600,000 online.

That’s impressive.

I remember talking to super-angel Dave McClure at Grow Conference this summer. When I asked him for his favorite startup, he answered AngelList. McClure backed up those strong words by launching 500 Startups’ new application process via AngelList just in September.

Now we know a bit more about why.

photo credit: pfala via photopin cc

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