By Sarah McBride

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Over a sushi lunch on Monday in downtown Boulder, Colorado, venture capitalists at early-stage investment fund Foundry Group decided to act on an initiative that aims to admit more than the usual foundations and university endowments to the VC clubhouse.

Last week, a change in federal regulations allowed AngelList, a site that has connected startups with potential investors since 2010, to let its companies and their backers publicly solicit funding. AngelList took the wraps off a program that Foundry and many others have embraced: syndicates that comprise large groups of individual investors.

In just a few days the site has already become the talk of the VC community and attracted the likes of Yahoo Chief Executive Marissa Mayer and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. Some say syndicates bring the potential to transform venture capital by raising the profile of individuals at the expense of established venture firms.

"Invest in syndicates led by proven angels," AngelList wrote on its home page, over photos of well-known Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and investors.

The syndicates allow one angel - typically an affluent person who provides capital for a startup - to lead a group of accredited investors to back companies that list themselves on the site as looking for cash. Accredited investors are those with net worth, not including their homes, of $1 million or more. No money changes hands until a startup is selected for funding.

While AngelList already allowed syndicates, they did not draw much attention until the site could trumpet them starting Sept. 23. A mini gold rush followed, as investors scrambled to start their own and get them featured on the site.

Today, almost 300 syndicates are on AngelList, including those created by Mayer, Hoffman and Twitter co-founders Biz Stone and Evan Williams. Digg co-founder Kevin Rose has already raised commitments of $1.4 million for his, with social-network Path founder Dave Morin second at $963,000.

To some extent the site is merely formalizing what many angel investors already do - find a company they like, invest, and persuade their friends to invest too. The difference is that with AngelList, the lead investor can take a portion of any profits the other investors make on the deal, typically 10 percent to 20 percent. AngelList takes 5 percent of the profits.

The commotion has caught the eyes of mainstream venture capitalists. Some are wondering if angel investors can take on the roles that should match the outsized cash they are bringing to startups, roles traditionally filled by the professionals.