Funding is what gives creative entrepreneurs wings to fulfil their dreams. It is the reason that we see such diverse startups coming to life every now and then. Whether it's hospitality, automobile or grocery; we have a startup in almost every sector and most of the credit goes to all the seed and early-stage funding by angel investors. Sitting right at the top of the 10 angel investors list is Indian Angel Network (IAN).
An early mover in the sector, IAN has already done 61 investments since January 1, 2011. It is closely followed by Mumbai Angels with 52 investments.
According to data made available by Chennai-based research firm, Venture Intelligence, occupying the third position in the top of the 10 angel investors list is Rajan Anandan, vice-president and Managing Director, Google, South East Asia and India, with 51 investments. The fourth and fifth positions went to Anupam Mittal, founder and CEO, People Group, and Mohandas Pai, former Chief Financial Officer of Infosys and Chairman, Aarin Capital.
Many industry experts believe, that the culture of seed funding in India has taken strong hold among high net worth Indian individuals because of the strong efforts made by various angel investors since 2006-07. Further, the startup industry has also lately been seeing a new trend emerging. Various first-generation entrepreneurs, upon exiting their own businesses, have started investing a significant share of their capital in start-ups that they think have the potential to grow and become a huge success.
Further, what could be seen as a positive sign for the Indian startup industry, the growth of angel investments in the country hasn't borne the brunt of the great decline in public markets in the year 2008 and the current mood swings of the Silicon Valley Venture Capitalists.
Indian Angel Network is a known name in the Indian startup industry for providing seed and early-stage capital and support to spur growth and development in the country's start-up ecosystem. Further, in order to encourage more and more early-stage startups to create scale and value, IAN collaborates with the various CEOs and entrepreneurs, who are passionate about encouraging and helping out new businesses in growing and flourishing.
The Network lays more focus on startups so as to fish them out of the acute lack of funds that many of them suffer from. It strongly believes, that a business requires more than just money in order to grow and be profitable. It also requires proper mentoring, planning and execution.
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