JioCinema Sets the Stage for the World of Angel Investing with 'Indian Angels’ the World's 1st Angel Investment Show on OTT

• Digikore Studios has created a new one-of-a-kind show ‘Indian Angels’ which will be streamed exclusively on Jio Cinema
• The show is set to revolutionize the world of investing by offering viewers the opportunity to invest in the featured businesses
• The inaugural episode is scheduled for exclusive release on Jio Cinema at the end of this month

Digikore Studios (NSE: DIGIKORE), has announced the launch of "Indian Angels," the world's first angel investment show which will be streamed on India’s leading OTT platform Jio Cinema. Indian Angels will not only offer angel investors the opportunity to support emerging startups but will also extend a rare invitation to viewers to become investors themselves.

The show boasts an exceptional panel of angel investors, each of whom has risen from humble beginnings to achieve remarkable success. The distinguished lineup includes Ankit Agrawal, Founder and CEO of InsuranceDekho; Shreedha Singh, CEO and Co-founder of T.A.C – The Ayurveda Co; Kunal Kishore, Founder and director of Value 360; Ajinkya Firodia, Managing Director of Kinetic Engineering Ltd.; Rikant Pittie, Co-Founder of EaseMyTrip and director and Aparna Thygarajan, Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer of Shobitam..

Abhishek More, Founder and CEO of Digikore Studios echoed their sentiments, adding, "At Digikore Studios, we are exceptionally proud to be part of this pioneering venture. 'Indian Angels' embodies the essence of innovation and the boundless possibilities of OTT platforms. It transcends mere entertainment; it signifies a movement that promises to reshape our understanding of investment. So get ready for a transformative journey that will have a profound impact on India's investment landscape and the trajectory of Indian businesses."

JioCinema spokesperson expressed their excitement, stating, "We are thrilled to introduce 'Indian Angels' to the world—a transformative show that transcends traditional entertainment. This innovative endeavor places investment opportunities at the forefront of your screens, democratizing angel investing for all. Prepare to be inspired, educated, and empowered as you witness the dawn of a new era in business entertainment."

The inaugural episode of "Indian Angels" is slated for release in late October, followed by the unveiling of two episodes every week on the JioCinema platform. "Indian Angels" is set to make startup investing more accessible than ever for everyday people. If you've always wanted to invest in startups but felt held back by a lack of knowledge or a formal platform to assist you, this show is a game-changer. It's like your chance to be a part of the action, just like the big players. "Indian Angels" levels the playing field, giving everyone with the passion for investing a shot at shaping the future of exciting new businesses. It's not just another show; it's a movement that empowers regular folks to chase their investment dreams.

Stay tuned for further exciting updates about the show.

About JioCinema:

Viacom18's JioCinema, India's premium digital streaming platform is now emerging as the undisputed leader in the realm of sports and premium entertainment. On sports JioCinema is home to the India’s biggest live sporting event ‘The Indian Premiere League’ and global sporting IPs like FIFA, IPL, LaLiga, amongst others. On entertainment, JioCinema, a powerhouse of stories boasts of a robust and diverse repository of riveting originals, digital film premieres, reality series, regional content, network content and curated entertainment and sporting content, all available for free. This along with the recently introduced subscription segment that will present real-time uninterrupted streaming of premium global titles from across leading studios like Warner Bros. Discovery, NBCUniversal is set to establish JioCinema as the ultimate entertainment destination. With 'new movies every week’, ‘new episodes everyday’, and ‘24x7 non-stop non-fiction reality and live sports in ultra-HD across languages and genres, Jio Cinema is a game changer in the Indian Entertainment Ecosystem. JioCinema is available for Android, iOS, and for web users on https://www.jiocinema.com.

About Digikore Studios:

Digikore (www.digikorevfx.com) is a Visual Effects Studio that offers a full suite of visual effects services managed by its seasoned production team. Digikore's dedicated team makes the impossible possible, fulfilling the demands of studios and independent creators alike. Digikore's artists utilize the latest software, hardware, and proprietary tools, which enables them to deliver outstanding VFX on tentpole films and episodic. They count every major studio among their creative partnerships, including Disney / Marvel, Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Warner Bros., Paramount, and Lionsgate. They work on the spectacular scenes and tiny details that make movies and shows truly mind-blowing!!!

Click here to view/download Digikore's RHP: https://ipo.digikorevfx.com/rhp.

Inflection Point Ventures (IPV) Logs 160% IRR for Its Investors on the Back of Multiple Exits in 2022

Announces 12 exits in the year 2022

Partial exit from Blusmart gives 94% returns to IPV investors and agri-tech company Otipy partial exit generates 70% IRR

IPV has exited to top investors and UHNIs for these transactions

IPV investors’ member base rises to 8600+

One of the most active and largest angel investment platforms Inflection Point Ventures (IPV), has announced 12 exits giving an IRR of 160% to its investors. The angel platform, which has emerged as one of the most trusted investment platforms for CXOs and first-time angels, has generated stellar returns even in tough market conditions.

Launched in 2018 by finance and PE veterans, Vinay Bansal, Ankur Mittal & Mitesh Shah, IPV has announced multiple exits from its 170+ start-up portfolio giving much needed liquidity infusion to its investors. IPV has invested Rs 550 crore across over 170 startups. At an overall level, the angel platform has provided 9 full exits, 21 partial exits to investors and 52 startups have gone on for a follow-on round of funding at a higher valuation post the platform’s initial investment. While last year it has partially and fully exited 12 startups.

Some of the key exits include high performing startups like BluSmart, Otipy, Stage and Buyofuel. Vinay Bansal, Founder & CEO, IPV, says, “The ongoing funding winter didn’t deter us from our investment and exit strategy. Last year, we exceeded our investment target and have put Rs 190 crore against Rs 155 crore target in Indian startups. Our belief in the robustness and strength of Indian startups continue to be on an upswing. Startup investments are fast emerging as a long term wealth creation asset class. The exits provided by us in 2021 and 2022 is further building confidence in the ecosystem to go long on angel investments.”

IPV has generated an IRR of 226% on a partial exit of Buyofuel and 186% IRR on partial exit of Kazam.

Ankur Mittal, Co-Founder, IPV, says, “We have always believed that startup investments should be democratised and more people should have access to fast growing new age companies. Exits help provide liquidity in to the asset class and as more wealth gets built from angel investments, it will further add to the credibility of this asset class, thus appealing to a wider investor base. In the last one year, our investor base has grown from 6000 to 8600+. We expect this to further grow to 10,000 as we continue to follow best in class due diligence to invest in top of the line companies which are building solutions for a better future.”

One of the major successes in the past year has been a stupendous exit in a Ad-tech startup with an IRR of 302% with a final money-over-money (MoM) for the exiting investors of >25x.

Apart from it, IPV has partially exited companies like peAR, Cercle X, EnsuredIT, LoanKuber, Raaho and Streak during the year, generating an average IRR of 162%.

Table below for a snapshot:
 

Mitesh Shah, Co-Founder, IPV, says, "We will continue to focus on exits in the current year and will work on bringing a filtered list of startups to our investor members. IPV plays an active role in connecting startups founders from our portfolio with large VCs for follow on rounds. We will leverage our network within the peers to ensure our founders get the right capital and mentoring to scale their businesses."

IPV invested in about 55 startup deals last year and plans to invest in more than 60 start-ups in 2023.

IPV has grown to more than 8600 members on the platform who can experience IPV’s unique & specialised approach to early-stage investing. The entry barriers for becoming an investor with IPV are extremely low, having been designed keeping in mind the ethos of the platform. One can start angel investment with IPV with a cheque size as low as Rs. 1,00,000 for a startup. It is the lowest cheque size in the angel investors community today.

About Inflection Point Ventures

Inflection Point Ventures (IPV) is an angel investing platform with over 8600 CXOs, HNIs, and Professionals to together invest in startups. The firm supports new-age entrepreneurs by providing them with monetary & experiential capital and connecting them with a diverse group of investors. IPV has announced the launch of a $50 million CAT 2 AIF Physis Capital to invest in pre-Series A to Series B growth-stage start-ups.

IAN Group Welcomes Priyank Garg as Managing Partner of IAN Alpha Fund

IAN, the Indian seed and early-stage investment platform, welcomes Priyank Garg as Managing Partner of the IAN Alpha Fund, the second in the series of IAN Group’s funds. Priyank’s coming on board will strengthen the Fund’s top team and enable it to match and exceed its excellent track record of Fund 1 and the Angel Group.

An entrepreneur and active early stage investor, Priyank brings over 26 years of experience in the cleantech, manufacturing, healthtech, SaaS & technology sectors. A Stanford and IIT Delhi graduate, he brings cross border experience with Yahoo and has, over the last 15 years, invested in over 60 companies, across a variety of sectors, both in India and overseas.

Priyank co-founded IOTomation, a building IoT company in 2019. He is currently the President of the Delhi Chapter of ISHRAE (Indian Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Engineers). As a TiE Charter Member, supports the Million Sparks Foundation and is deeply engaged with various startup / early stage platforms like NASSCOM Emerge, India Innovation Initiative, Samsung Innovation, Times of India Big Challenge jury, etc.

Embarking on this new journey, Priyank Garg, Managing Partner, IAN Alpha Fund, said, “I am delighted to join the IAN Group as part of the IAN Alpha Fund for the next stage of our journey. As an angel investor, I have been investing with IAN for 14 years across sectors and have really appreciated the depth of engagement, quality of portfolio founders, focus on governance and returns. Having tried many others, this is the only platform that puts health of the Indian startup eco-system at the heart of its work from the day of its founding to today. I look forward to progressing IAN’s focus on solving real problems of the world from India with tech, innovation and transformation, augmented with my passion and experience in Deeptech and Cleantech, and bring about India’s golden hour”

Speaking on the same, Saurabh Srivastava, Co-founder and Chairman, IAN, said, “We are delighted to welcome Priyank to the IAN Alpha Fund. He is well known in the seed / early stage investor ecosystem and we look forward to leveraging his business building experience for the Fund’s portfolio companies which, in turn, will enable high returns for our Investors.”

Ms. Padmaja Ruparel, Co-foounder IAN and Sr. Managing Partner IAN Alpha Fund, said, “We are truly excited to have Priyank join the IAN Alpha Fund. He brings decades of experience in building businesses in India and the US, in environment friendly spaces. With his deep engagement with the startup ecosystem, he will just add to the mentoring and market access that IAN brings to its portfolio companies, ensuring a far lower risk to investors."

IAN Alpha Fund

IAN Alpha Fund, a Rs. 1000 crores (US$125mn) SEBI registered, AIF Category II VC Fund, is the second Fund in IAN’s series of Funds. It is being built to leverage the portfolios of both IAN Angel Platform and IAN Fund I apart from investing in innovative startups solving real problems for India and the world, with sustainable business models enabling scale by leveraging technology . With the IAN Alpha Fund, IAN continues its legacy of building a portfolio of high quality companies by founders who not only understand the customer need but have leadership qualities to build complementary and high execution focused teams to build valuable businesses.

About IAN

Indian Angel Network is India’s first angel investor group, comprising renowned, successful entrepreneurs and dynamic CEOs from across the world. With investors from 12 countries, IAN’s presence spans 7 global locations. The platform is sector-agnostic and has funded innovative start-ups across 19 sectors in India and 7 other countries, thereby growing the global footprint of companies. IAN has been enabling excellent cash exits year-on-year to its investors for the last 14 years. Some of its marquee investee companies include Spinny, Box8, Uniphore Software Systems, WOW Momos, Consure Medical, FarEye, Propelld, Dhruva Space, WebEngage, and FarMart, amongst others.

Apart from the IAN’s angel investor network, the platform comprises BioAngels, India’s first sector-focused angel investor group, in partnership with BIRAC, an enterprise of the Department of Biotechnology. The IAN Group also includes the IAN Fund I, an INR 375 crore VC fund, and a Rs. 1,000 crores IAN Alpha Fund, to build the single largest platform for seed and early-stage investing enabling entrepreneurs to raise from Rs. 50 lakhs to Rs. 50 crores from quality investors who provide funds, mentoring and global market access.

Junglee Co-founder Who Invested ₹10 Lakhs in Flipkart in 2009 To Make Over ₹130 Crores

Back in 2008, when Flipkart was operating out of a two-storey house in Kormangala area of Bangalore, its co-founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal were hunting for investors and was getting number of rejections from investors including Accel Partners but eventually they managed to grab Rs.60 lakh from Accel in 2009.

In the same year, they met Ashish Gupta, co-founder of Helion Venture Partners and co-founder of price comparison site Junglee, which was sold to Amazon for $240 million in 1998. Ashish pitched in with ₹10 lakh from his own pocket, making him the first angel investor in Flipkart.

Now, after almost a decade, Ashish stands to make roughly $20 million ( ~ ₹137 crores) from a deal of Walmart’s $16 billion buyout of Flipkart.

Ashish Gupta is founder of venture capital firm Helion Ventures, which was dismantled in 2016 after a string of executives left to launch their own funds. But what's not known is Gupta is also one of the most successful angel investors in India.

Apart from Flipkart, Gupta has made several clever and intuitive bets, including MuSigma and MakeMyTrip. In his key exits, at least three of his investments in India have yielded big gains -- Makemytrip went public (IPO) in 2010, Merittrac was bought by Manipal in 2016, and cloud computing platform Minjar was bought by Nutanix this year.

Ashish's past investments include Daksh (sold to IBM), Obongo (sold to AOL), Tavant Technologies, Mu Sigma, FlipKart (sold to Walmart), Kaboodle (sold to Hearst), Make My Trip (IPO - MMYT), Odesk - now Upwork, Perfios, Metric Stream (sold to Manipal), Tenet (sold to Hughes), Snapfish (sold to HP), Danastreet (sold to Netscreen), Speedera (sold to akamai).

"Ashish has had a great track record as an angel investor and has made several smart bets that have paid off in a big way over the years. He’s had a knack of spotting and betting on smart ideas and founders," said Abhishek Goyal, founder of Tracxn.

Ashish is a US citizen, a PhD from Stanford University in California, and a computer science graduate from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. After selling Junglee, he worked at Amazon for a while.

Gupta, a US citizen, is a PhD from Stanford University in California, and a computer science graduate from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. After selling Junglee, he worked at Amazon for a while.

In 2000, Gupta and his wife Nita Goel, whom he met at Stanford, founded Tavant Technologies with two others. Gupta then did a Kauffman Fellows Programme to study the VC business. Two years on, he joined the Woodside fund, an early stage VC firm in Silicon Valley. He then founded Helion in 2006.

Gupta continued to make angel investments. In 2009, he wrote a cheque of ₹10 lakh to Flipkart when it raised its first-ever round of capital from Accel Partners, which had agreed to invest $1 million in three tranches. In the first tranche that amounted to ₹70 lakh, Gupta contributed ₹10 lakh. That bet will now yield $18-20 million.

Gupta stands to make an even bigger killing from his bet on software maker MuSigma in which he again made an angel investment, albeit a larger one than his Flipkart bet, and got an exit at roughly $50 million.

And even though Helion failed as a VC firm, Gupta is still respected and liked by entrepreneurs and investors alike.

“Ashish is one of the best investors I’ve ever met, both from an institutional and angel perspective. He’s usually 5-7 years ahead of the curve when it comes to betting on ideas. He likes to focus more on underlying trends than on what is happening right now. Most importantly, Ashish likes to genuinely help entrepreneurs and founders and work with them—and he doesn’t do it for money,” said Rahul Chowdhri, partner at Stellaris Venture Partners. Chowdhri was a colleague of Gupta’s at Helion.


Via - Hindustan Times | Top Image - TheHindu.com

Junglee Co-founder Who Invested ₹10 Lakhs in Flipkart in 2009 To Make Over ₹130 Crores

Back in 2008, when Flipkart was operating out of a two-storey house in Kormangala area of Bangalore, its co-founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal were hunting for investors and was getting number of rejections from investors including Accel Partners but eventually they managed to grab Rs.60 lakh from Accel in 2009.

In the same year, they met Ashish Gupta, co-founder of Helion Venture Partners and co-founder of price comparison site Junglee, which was sold to Amazon for $240 million in 1998. Ashish pitched in with ₹10 lakh from his own pocket, making him the first angel investor in Flipkart.

Now, after almost a decade, Ashish stands to make roughly $20 million ( ~ ₹137 crores) from a deal of Walmart’s $16 billion buyout of Flipkart.

Ashish Gupta is founder of venture capital firm Helion Ventures, which was dismantled in 2016 after a string of executives left to launch their own funds. But what's not known is Gupta is also one of the most successful angel investors in India.

Apart from Flipkart, Gupta has made several clever and intuitive bets, including MuSigma and MakeMyTrip. In his key exits, at least three of his investments in India have yielded big gains -- Makemytrip went public (IPO) in 2010, Merittrac was bought by Manipal in 2016, and cloud computing platform Minjar was bought by Nutanix this year.

Ashish's past investments include Daksh (sold to IBM), Obongo (sold to AOL), Tavant Technologies, Mu Sigma, FlipKart (sold to Walmart), Kaboodle (sold to Hearst), Make My Trip (IPO - MMYT), Odesk - now Upwork, Perfios, Metric Stream (sold to Manipal), Tenet (sold to Hughes), Snapfish (sold to HP), Danastreet (sold to Netscreen), Speedera (sold to akamai).

"Ashish has had a great track record as an angel investor and has made several smart bets that have paid off in a big way over the years. He’s had a knack of spotting and betting on smart ideas and founders," said Abhishek Goyal, founder of Tracxn.

Ashish is a US citizen, a PhD from Stanford University in California, and a computer science graduate from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. After selling Junglee, he worked at Amazon for a while.

Gupta, a US citizen, is a PhD from Stanford University in California, and a computer science graduate from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. After selling Junglee, he worked at Amazon for a while.

In 2000, Gupta and his wife Nita Goel, whom he met at Stanford, founded Tavant Technologies with two others. Gupta then did a Kauffman Fellows Programme to study the VC business. Two years on, he joined the Woodside fund, an early stage VC firm in Silicon Valley. He then founded Helion in 2006.

Gupta continued to make angel investments. In 2009, he wrote a cheque of ₹10 lakh to Flipkart when it raised its first-ever round of capital from Accel Partners, which had agreed to invest $1 million in three tranches. In the first tranche that amounted to ₹70 lakh, Gupta contributed ₹10 lakh. That bet will now yield $18-20 million.

Gupta stands to make an even bigger killing from his bet on software maker MuSigma in which he again made an angel investment, albeit a larger one than his Flipkart bet, and got an exit at roughly $50 million.

And even though Helion failed as a VC firm, Gupta is still respected and liked by entrepreneurs and investors alike.

“Ashish is one of the best investors I’ve ever met, both from an institutional and angel perspective. He’s usually 5-7 years ahead of the curve when it comes to betting on ideas. He likes to focus more on underlying trends than on what is happening right now. Most importantly, Ashish likes to genuinely help entrepreneurs and founders and work with them—and he doesn’t do it for money,” said Rahul Chowdhri, partner at Stellaris Venture Partners. Chowdhri was a colleague of Gupta’s at Helion.


Via - Hindustan Times | Top Image - TheHindu.com

SEBI To Increase Maximum Funding Cap from Angel Funds and More

In an aim to provide momentum to early-stage startup funding in India, market regulator SEBI plans to increase the maximum investment by angel funds in venture capital undertakings to Rs 10 crore from the current Rs 5 crore. However, the minimum investment by an angel investor will continue to be Rs 25 lakhs. The move will give boost to startups especially early-age ones to raise funds in maximum lot.

In this fast changing startup ecosystem of India, wherein angels are investing much higher amounts, such increase is needed to provide more opportunities to angel funds, regulatory officials said.

SEBI also plans on introducing the rule that an angel investor must have a minimum corpus of Rs. 5 crores in order to be able to register with SEBI as a recognized and legal angel investor. Further, the regulator also considering to raise the maximum period of accepting funds from an angel investor to 5 years from the present limit of 3 years, which will provide angel investors more time to identify opportunities and invest in venture capital firms.

The issue will be discussed at the board meeting of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) this week, reported Business Standard.

Technically speaking Angel funds is a sub-category of Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), which encourage entrepreneurship in the country by financing small startups at a stage where such firms find it difficult to obtain capital from traditional sources of finance such as banks and financial institutions. Currently, there are 398 AIFs registered with Sebi and among these 114 are registered under Category I, including eight angel funds.

Angel funds also refers to a money pool created by high net-worth individuals (HNIs) or companies (generally called as angel investors), for investing in business startups. Additionaly, angel funds offer mentoring to entrepreneurs as well as access to their own business networks.

Related Reading - What Types of Companies Do Angel Investors Fund?

Besides, SEBI also plans to provide an option to listed companies for distribution of cash benefits -- dividend of equity and preference shares as well as interest and maturity proceeds on debt instruments -- through the depositories in addition to the present system of distribution either directly by them or through the registrar to an issue and share transfer agents.

At present, there is a restriction on listed companies availing services of depositories for distribution of cash benefits.

In 2015 when SEBI relaxed norms for startups to get listed, the regulatory body, in last August, had also sent notices to at least half a dozen angel firms asking them for details of their business as SEBI found that few of them were acting like unauthorized stock exchanges.

To recall, few days back SEBI also announced that it is planning to allow startups to list on the small and medium enterprises (SME) platform of the stock exchanges as an opportunity to raise capital apart from usual private equity and angel investment funding route.

SEBI To Increase Maximum Funding Cap from Angel Funds and More

In an aim to provide momentum to early-stage startup funding in India, market regulator SEBI plans to increase the maximum investment by angel funds in venture capital undertakings to Rs 10 crore from the current Rs 5 crore. However, the minimum investment by an angel investor will continue to be Rs 25 lakhs. The move will give boost to startups especially early-age ones to raise funds in maximum lot.

In this fast changing startup ecosystem of India, wherein angels are investing much higher amounts, such increase is needed to provide more opportunities to angel funds, regulatory officials said.

SEBI also plans on introducing the rule that an angel investor must have a minimum corpus of Rs. 5 crores in order to be able to register with SEBI as a recognized and legal angel investor. Further, the regulator also considering to raise the maximum period of accepting funds from an angel investor to 5 years from the present limit of 3 years, which will provide angel investors more time to identify opportunities and invest in venture capital firms.

The issue will be discussed at the board meeting of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) this week, reported Business Standard.

Technically speaking Angel funds is a sub-category of Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), which encourage entrepreneurship in the country by financing small startups at a stage where such firms find it difficult to obtain capital from traditional sources of finance such as banks and financial institutions. Currently, there are 398 AIFs registered with Sebi and among these 114 are registered under Category I, including eight angel funds.

Angel funds also refers to a money pool created by high net-worth individuals (HNIs) or companies (generally called as angel investors), for investing in business startups. Additionaly, angel funds offer mentoring to entrepreneurs as well as access to their own business networks.

Related Reading - What Types of Companies Do Angel Investors Fund?

Besides, SEBI also plans to provide an option to listed companies for distribution of cash benefits -- dividend of equity and preference shares as well as interest and maturity proceeds on debt instruments -- through the depositories in addition to the present system of distribution either directly by them or through the registrar to an issue and share transfer agents.

At present, there is a restriction on listed companies availing services of depositories for distribution of cash benefits.

In 2015 when SEBI relaxed norms for startups to get listed, the regulatory body, in last August, had also sent notices to at least half a dozen angel firms asking them for details of their business as SEBI found that few of them were acting like unauthorized stock exchanges.

To recall, few days back SEBI also announced that it is planning to allow startups to list on the small and medium enterprises (SME) platform of the stock exchanges as an opportunity to raise capital apart from usual private equity and angel investment funding route.

4 Qualities Angel Investors Want To See In Startups

The Startup industry is blooming like never before. This bloom in the industry means both good and bad things for the early starters. While the good thing is, there's enough acceptance and space in the industry, It also means that these new comers have to face a hard time distinguishing themselves from others and establishing a unique identity of their own.

One of the hiccups that these first time entrepreneurs have to face is getting funding for their young ventures. Angel Investment is one of the most famous form of funding in startups all over the world. So, in order to make the going a little easier for all those entrepreneurs seeking Angel investment, we have a few tips up our sleeve which we would like to share.

Here we go!

1) Angel Investors seek to know the real you -

Having invested in a lot of startups and met a lot of entrepreneurs, they're well aware of the kind of people and ideas they're looking to invest into. Hence, the one thing that they're actually looking forward to when meeting probable entrepreneurs for investment, is to connect with them personally. So, the next time you go to meet a probable investor make sure that they get to know and connect with the real product that you're selling i.e. 'you'.

2) They want to see a strong foundation -

While most Angel investors might be perceived as big time risk takers who have landed the role through solid personal net worth and annual income. But most angel investors aren't the wild risk takers, ready to invest truckloads of money at an out-of-the-box idea kind of people. All they want to see is real money -- a legitimate and strong valuation of the startup that isn't skewed by flimsy funding managed from friends and family.

You're most likely to land the investment if in some way or the other, your startup has already proved or manages to prove that it is on a path to success in the future.

3) Angel Investors want to taste the action -

While this might not be the case with all of them, but many of the angel investors don't just want to invest in your startup and then sit back and enjoy. Many of them want to taste the ground excitement and get involved in the day to day working of the startup and use their experience in smoothing the daily working of the startup. They just don't want to remain an outsider, they aspire to become an integral part of the startup and its working. After-all, they want to see good returns on their investment.

4) Angel Investors want to know about the startup's exit strategy in place -

While investing, the investors are predominantly looking to see something in the business's future that makes it a fruitful investment. Most of the times, all they're looking for is a good carved out solid strategy, that ultimately converts into big money.
However, a solid plan doesn't always guarantee huge success. Hence, according to the Wall Street Journal, "In general, the only way one can make a profit on an angel investment--or get at least some of your money back--is if the company you've funded has an exit event, such as an initial public offering or acquisition. And that can take years to happen, if ever."

Hence, if you're an entrepreneur or a startup seeking the attention of an Angel investor, make sure that you have a futuristic exit plan in place so that the investor exactly knows what is he getting into.
With these 4 things in place, you're surely going to win over your Angel investor. All the very best!

7 Tips For Startups To Pitch Their Ideas To Angels

One of the toughest challenges that an entrepreneur has to face, besides the venture's daily functioning, is pitching his/her business to potential investors.

Since the pitch has a lot on stake, one needs to be well prepared for it. After all, you and your startup's future depend on it.

In order to make you prep for that one big meeting of yours, we, here at www.indianweb2.com, bring to you a list of pointers which you must follow by heart before making that grand entrance before your prospective investor.

1. Be Well Prepared - No, Here I am not just talking about being well prepared about your idea. Here, the focus is you. Yes, you. Though idea is a big consideration for an investor before investing but a even bigger consideration is the person behind the idea. It's not that difficult to come up with a brilliant idea but it is extremely difficult to execute that brilliant idea of yours in a brilliant way. So, prepare yourself for the storm of questions heading towards you.




2. Present Well - Any investor focuses more on the way you present rather than what you present. Of course, what you present is important but here your presentation skills will make or break the deal. Remember to cover all the essential points in your presentation and present them as crisply you can.




3. Keep Your Business Plan Ready From Day 1 - Most of the Angels looking to invest are extremely interested in knowing your exit strategy before finally locking the deal as most of them get bored and tired with one company for so long and start looking for new and fresh opportunities. So, make sure that you have your exit strategy ready with you before going for that meeting.




4. Research Well - An entrepreneur should not only know all about his idea and business plan but he should also be aware of his investors past, future and present. Doing a thorough research on your investor is going to give you a good overview of the investor's earlier investments and their success ratio.




5. Make Due Diligence Your Priority - Most of the investors take about three months or more to due diligence on your business ideas. Make sure that they don't have to think much and waste your and their time.




6. Term Sheet Offer - Negotiate a good term sheet offer. Does this term sound absolutely alien to you? Go check out to the websites of the Angel Capital Association or European Business Angels Network to know more about. You don't want to ignore it as this is often termed as the most painful part of the whole process.




7. Language- Brush-up those vocab skills because nothing sounds more professional and impressive than a person speaking in fluent language.

With all these points in place, we're extremely sure that you're going to rock that pitch. And, yes, always keep your chin up. It helps. All the best

8 Tips For Startups To Attract Angel Investors

To build a startup, entrepreneurs need a laser focus on providing an innovative solution to a real problem. Once they achieve that initial traction, the focus needs to change for quicker growth. Most entrepreneurs dream of achieving the exponential expansion of a Google or Amazon, but few investor pitches I see outline any strategy beyond simple marketing to make this happen.

Investors are looking for innovation in the growth strategy, to match or exceed the innovation in the technology and solution. Conventional marketing may be adequate for linear growth, but it probably won’t take your startup to the exponential growth of a large-scale movement.

While searching for the most effective strategies of companies that have achieved exponential growth, I came across a great new book "Bold: How to Go Big, Create Wealth and Impact the World," by Peter H. Diamandis and Steven Kotler. These visionary thinkers outlined in their book a set of modern accelerated growth strategies that I believe every entrepreneur should adopt:

1. Build a community of evangelists. Become a conduit for people to talk to each other, and feel like part of a special community. According to Seth Godin, it’s also necessary to engage them with the message from you, the leader, about where you want to go, and the change you want to take place in your world. This incents word-of-mouth on steroids.


2. Nurture partnerships with many other organizations. Playing well with other organizations in cyberspace and in the real world is more effective than trying to move the mountain alone. Build a list of specific organizations that can help you, and how to engage them. Organizations bring their own communities to exponentially grow yours.


3. Incent friendly competition with prizes. People love to compete. Give community members incentives, rewards, and challenges as a way to square off against one another, and they will show up. Diamandis created the XPRIZE and Singularity University which created huge movements, and exponential growth for related businesses.


4. Go into battle against a common rival. One of the best ways to strengthen a community is to take a stand, and find a common enemy. Attacking an issue that affects many potential customers allows you to focus on providing solutions, and lets your community do the selling. Refrain from ranting and raving or bashing the enemy.


5. Deliver edgy product demonstrations. New products being used in innovative and unusual ways spark buzz and attract followers. The opportunities are endless, with the Internet of Things, wearable technology, driver-less cars, and new fashion trends. Get your community involved in both the idea and the delivery.


6. Host events to bring your community together. Events can also be in cyberspace, or anywhere in the real world. These encourage members to band together and share experiences based on common interests, and strengthen ties to your brand. Don’t forget that when planning an event, your ultimate goal is incite people to advocacy and action.


7. Maximize your online brand and media presence. Don’t forget the basics of search engine optimization, social media engagement, video marketing, and courting influential bloggers. Your online brand is what your community thinks of you when you are not available. Creating and updating quality content is required to maintain visibility online.


8. Prove your worth. Startups need to properly vet their idea and business model before they can expect to receive large amounts of investment capital. Crowdfunding is an excellent way to prove market validation, especially for consumer technology and product companies. Angels and even some venture capitalists may use this as a filter to determine if a startup is promising.

These strategies are exceedingly effective when applied to solutions that are derived from one of the accelerating new technologies, including networks of sensors, infinite computing, robotics, artificial intelligence, and 3D printing. They also work well in building movements based on social causes, environmental change, and health initiatives.

Another modern name for business community building strategies is crowdsourcing. With crowdfunding early, and crowdsourcing to build a community throughout, entrepreneurs can massively increase the speed of business evolution in today’s hyper-connected world. Why not make your idea an unstoppable movement, and not just a business?

How AdPushup Closed $632K in Angel Investment

If you're a startup which often wonders about how companies are able to raise funds, then this article is for you. AdPushup, a startup, was recently successful in raising around $632,000 from 50 Angel investors in a single round of investment.

The company started the fundraising process by registering itself on an online platform for raising funds called LetsVenture. The company preferred LetsVenture over AngelList as a platform because with LetsVenture it is easier to gain visibility as every new startup gets placement on the main listing page of the platform. Within just two days of completing their profile on the platform, the company received a call from the platform’s founders to expand further on what the company was and what they basically did.

In the same week of registering at LetsVenture, the company was asked to pitch itself for the very first time in an offline event at Investopad, which is an amazing co-working space. At that event, the company representatives met Sunil Kalra who later went on to become the first angel to commit to the fund raising round and support the company.

The company further made use of some tools to make itself standout in the sea of other startups in the eyes of the investors. Some of them have been discussed below.

1)  Cold Email- the Company challenged the norm of investments happening through introductions and instead drafted a slightly unorthodox mail. This was a big risk on their part but they took it and in the end it paid off. In the mail they explained what their company basically was and what they were looking for from them. The company sent out a total of 55 mails and received 24% of funds from this round.

2) Exploring the Existing user base- the company was even able to raise funds from their existing user base which showed great user confidence in the company’s product.

3) Angellist- the “Find Investors” tab on Angellist can prove to be very beneficial for startups. AdPushup was able to get two investors using it.

4) Public Relations (PR)- Good PR can give you the speed that you were looking for. It can help you in getting new leads and closing your existing leads faster. It also improves the company’s odds and makes one look more credible.

5) Pitching events- Attending more and more pitching events increases ones chances. AdPushup pitched at events like Techcircle startup 2014 and StartupDash 2014.

Via - AdPushup Official Blog

How AdPushup Closed $632K in Angel Investment

If you're a startup which often wonders about how companies are able to raise funds, then this article is for you. AdPushup, a startup, was recently successful in raising around $632,000 from 50 Angel investors in a single round of investment.

The company started the fundraising process by registering itself on an online platform for raising funds called LetsVenture. The company preferred LetsVenture over AngelList as a platform because with LetsVenture it is easier to gain visibility as every new startup gets placement on the main listing page of the platform. Within just two days of completing their profile on the platform, the company received a call from the platform’s founders to expand further on what the company was and what they basically did.

In the same week of registering at LetsVenture, the company was asked to pitch itself for the very first time in an offline event at Investopad, which is an amazing co-working space. At that event, the company representatives met Sunil Kalra who later went on to become the first angel to commit to the fund raising round and support the company.

The company further made use of some tools to make itself standout in the sea of other startups in the eyes of the investors. Some of them have been discussed below.

1)  Cold Email- the Company challenged the norm of investments happening through introductions and instead drafted a slightly unorthodox mail. This was a big risk on their part but they took it and in the end it paid off. In the mail they explained what their company basically was and what they were looking for from them. The company sent out a total of 55 mails and received 24% of funds from this round.

2) Exploring the Existing user base- the company was even able to raise funds from their existing user base which showed great user confidence in the company’s product.

3) Angellist- the “Find Investors” tab on Angellist can prove to be very beneficial for startups. AdPushup was able to get two investors using it.

4) Public Relations (PR)- Good PR can give you the speed that you were looking for. It can help you in getting new leads and closing your existing leads faster. It also improves the company’s odds and makes one look more credible.

5) Pitching events- Attending more and more pitching events increases ones chances. AdPushup pitched at events like Techcircle startup 2014 and StartupDash 2014.

Via - AdPushup Official Blog