How to find Angel Investors in India – This is a question that I often get from founders.
Angel Investors in India are a boon for startup founders. They back you when you are at a very early stage of your startup journey—you might have an MVP and some traction, and you need funds to further build your product, get more customers, and hire your initial set of employees.
Angel Investors, as the name suggests, are Angels for startups. Angel Investors in India give you money from 5 lakhs to up to 5 cr in exchange for 5-15% equity in your company, depending upon the stage you are in. Before trying to understand how to find Angel Investors for Startups in India, let's try to understand these Angel Investors.
Find Angel Investors for Startups in India: Who are Angel Investors?
Angel investors are basically high-net-worth individuals who invest their personal funds in startups in an individual capacity, in exchange for equity or convertible debt in the startup. They could be startup founders, CXOs, top management professionals of the company with an excess of wealth, who choose to invest in startups.
They come at a very early stage in the startup journey and give higher freedom to startup founders to experiment and grow.
Venture Capitalists, on the other hand, come at a later stage when the company has established a product-market fit and is looking to scale. VCs tend to put in a larger amount of money, get a higher stake in the company, and have control over the operations of the company.
What are the ways to find Angel Investors for Startups in India?
Raising funds from angel investors for startups in India requires three major parts –
- Finalising the business plan and deciding on the ask amount
- Creating an email cover letter and pitch deck mentioning relevant details about your startup
- Listing down angels and reaching out to them
We will cover what the different parameters are, based on which angels decide to fund your startup, but let us see different ways to reach out to angel investors for startups in India.
1. Angel Funds
Angel funds are funds of a network of angels managed by a group of angels. These angel funds
- Indian Angel Network (IAN): IAN is India’s largest network, investing across diverse sectors. They invest from 50 lakhs to up to 50 cr in startups. They have invested in more than 225 companies. You can read more about them on their website: https://iangroup.vc/
- Mumbai Angels: Mumbai Angels is a network of 700+ angel investors and has invested in 200+ companies so far. To pitch your startup to Mumbai angels, all you need to do is submit your business plan here: https://www.mumbaiangels.com/founder
- LetsVenture: LetsVenture is an early-stage fund that invests in startups at various stages – POC/Beta/Early Stage. Their ticket size varies from $100,000 to $ 1 M.
Visit their website: https://app.letsventure.com/join/startup to pitch your startup - AngelList India: AngelList provides a platform for investors as well as founders to connect. This platform lets you create a detailed startup profile, pitch your business, and connect directly with investors interested in your sector.
2. Angel Listing Platforms
You can Google it out – List of Angels in India, and you will find different platforms that list top angels of India along with their email IDs, but the catch here is that it only lists angels that are quite known in the circuit. However, there are lots of angels who keep it low profile and would love to invest in your startup. No worries, you can use the next method to reach out to such angel investors
3. Social Media and Professional Networks
LinkedIn is one of the most powerful tools for connecting with the right people, you just need to know how to leverage it in the right way. You need to start searching for Angel Investors on LinkedIn, and eventually, you will start getting suggestions from LinkedIn. Make sure to do a thorough research on the investor and her/his past investments and accordingly frame a small write-up and send a connection request. Do not spam the investors, and make sure to follow a very professional tone. The more clarity you provide in your short message about you and what you are trying to achieve, the higher will be chance of a response from the investor.
4. Startup Events, Meetups, and Conferences
There are lots of startup events happening in India, you can track these events through different portals. Just Google “Start-up Events in Your city” and you will see lots of events. There are some annual events of TIE, Yourstory, and Startup Mahakumbh as well. Being part of these events, you can learn a lot and also connect with lots of angels. Make sure to do well research before going to the event and have your 1-minute pitch ready, as highly likely there will be other founders like you who are there to pitch their startup. Also, make sure to carry your card, and try to get Angel’s contact to share your pitch deck after the meeting.
5. Referrals and Warm Introductions
Like I mentioned previously, there are lots of angel investors for startups in India, hidden in plain sight, and are a little difficult to reach out to. The best way to reach out to such investors is through referrals. You can get referrals from your friends, family, colleagues, or your college alumni network. You can also reach out to founders on LinkedIn and ask for referrals.
What Indian Angel Investors Look For before Investing in Startups
Before approaching an angel investor for funding your startup, it's important to understand what makes them sign a cheque:
- Founder: This is the most important factor for investors, as they are betting on founders since they are investing at such an early stage. They invest in founders who have strong knowledge of the industry and a clear vision of what they want to build. Founders should have a learning attitude and not get offended when provided feedback
- Early Traction: Angel investors look for some validation of your idea/product before making an investment. It is easy to get an idea, and it's difficult for angel investors to invest just on the basis of the idea. Hence, it is important to show some traction to show validation of the idea.
- Market Opportunity: They look for ideas that can be started small but have the potential to be a billion-dollar business going ahead. Any idea has to start small, but going ahead, you should have a vision to make the business big, hence, it is important to have a big market.
- Product Differentiation: It is very important to include a slide of competition analysis and clearly mention your USPs over competitors in the deck.
