Funding your startups at early stage is a big issue which most of entrepreneurs face. Some take the path of bootstrapping or borrow money to fund their venture in the beginning.
However, not all businesses and founders like to take that route.
Therefore, angel investment comes out as the best alternative for startups at early stage that require capital from 1 lakh to 2 crore.
There are many established angel investing groups and networks in India like Bengaluru Angel Network and Indian Angels Network.
However, there are also many well-know or new groups that a founder can consider to fund their startup in the beginning.
Here are some of those –
Rainmatter
Rainmatter is a startup incubation initiative by ZERODHA which mostly focuses on fin-tech startups. It was founded in 2016.
Rainmatter provides well-equipped workspaces, mentorship along with funding from 80 Lakh to 8 Crore Rs in exchange of a minority share.
Funded startup can just focus on building their MVP or product, while Rainmatter takes care of everything else such as APIs ,compliances and sales.
Startups get direct industry connects and mentorship through Rainmatter to go global.
The biggest benefit a Rainmatter funded startup has is access to Over 5 million strong client base to showcase and validate their product.
Rainmatter has incubeted well-known fin-tech startups like Finshot, Smallcase, GoldenPI, Streak, LearnApp, Wint Wealth etc. and has funded startups like – CRED, Procol, Jupitor etc.
Apart from this, Rainmatter Foundation is also an another non-profit foundation by ZERODHA to help and fund startups focusing on ecological restoration, fostering distributed and federated green economies and livelihoods.
IPV
IPV stands for Inflection Point Ventures (IPV) founded in 2018.
Currently this angel investing network has more than 7000 members or angel investors that support innovative entrepreneurs through funds and experience.
IPV was founded by Vinay Bansal (CEO), Ankur Mittal (COO), Mitesh Shah (Ex-OLA and Bookmyshow) and Vinod Bansal (CFO).
Inflection Point Ventures has invested in startups like Siply, Clensta, WAGR, Devnagri, RAAHO, Loan Kuber, Streak, BharatPe etc.
The firm has also partnered with Giant players like Razorpay, AWS, Yesbank, Freshworks, Canva, Hubspot, Microsoft and PayTM for business.
Investors who are willing to become an angel investor can join this large group of other investors and can invest in various startups.
CIO Angels Network
CIO Angels Network or CAN was founded by Anoop Mathur in 2015 and is a brand of CORE MEDIA.
Members of CIO Angels Network are expert technology professionals and the group focuses on Tech or Tech enables startups.
Members of CAN include Manish Choksi From Asian Pants and Shailaesh Joshi from Godrej Group.
Funded startups by CIO Angel Network include PayTunes, Instasafe, Codemojom, Aisle etc.
Entrepreneurs can visit CAN’s website and apply for funding through their applicaiton.
Ah ! Ventures
Ah Ventures is one of the leading Angel investing network founded in 2012.
Ah Ventures has invested in startups like Testbook, INC42, Ketto, Aha Taxi, Baby Chakra, Exotel etc.
The network has funded startups across domain like Edtech, Fintech and Media.
The company was founded by Abhijeet Kumar and Harshad Lahoti which has funded over 140 deals and more than 100 startups.
Ah ventures invests in early stage startups within a funding range of Rs. 3-3.5 Crore.
It has more than 10 exits and more than 25 of its funded ventures have gone for follow up round.
SAE
Stanford Angels and Entrepreneurs also known as SAE is a women led angel investing group.
Paula Mariwala and Chaitra Chidanand are the founders of SAE.
SAE is a Stanford Alumni Association group in India.
Standford Angels and Entrepreneurs network of India has been set up in close collaboration with SAE of Silicon Valley, which was founded in 2010.
Stanford Angels and Entrepreneurs has invested in Indian startups like Unacademy, GyanDhan, KopyKitab, Terra.do, Multibhasi, BrainSighAI, Memechat etc.
Early stage startups can pitch to the group through their website to raise funds from Angel investors.
Final Thoughts
Shark Tank India has included in dinner talks of Indian households.
Many well known angel investors like Anupam Mittal (People Group), Vijay Shekhar Sharma (PayTM), Kunal Shah (CRED) etc. are actively investing in new age, innovate ideas.
A founder can also reach out to individual angel investors through social media, which is the best way to get funded early or you can also get in touch with popular or new angel networks and groups.
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