Guptaji Invests, an Angel Network of HNIs, NRIs, Professionals and Traditional Business Owners Exclusively of Gupta / Vysya Community Launched

It has onboarded 10 investors, 30 are in the process and aims to onboard 500 in next 12 months

Plans are also on the anvil to create an investment fund of INR 100 crore by the end of the year.

Guptaji Invests, an Angel network of HNIs, NRIs, professionals and traditional business owners exclusively from the Gupta / Vysya community launched in Hyderabad yesterday. The newly launched angel network is something similar to Marwari Angels and JITO Angel Network, a community specific angel network.

Disclosing this in a press note issued in Hyderabad, Mr Ravi Teja Gupta (RTG), an entrepreneur-cum-seed investor said this is India's first Vysya community based Angel Network and accelerator exclusive for Vysya investors. Vysyas are traditionally businessmen. Business is in their DNA. The new generation is shifting away from family businesses, taking up jobs in the corporate world and holding leadership positions across the globe. Guptaji Invests is an opportunity for them to invest in futuristic start-ups with a future full of promises. Guptaji Invests plans to transform the Vysya community into startup investors.

Ravi Teja Gupta

It is a brain child of Ravi Teja Gupta who has been in the startup ecosystem for more than a decade. He worked for various startups and invested in a couple of startups personally. He held a key role in the well known FinTech and HealthTech startups.

In India, there are around 30 active angel networks. Myntra, Khatabook, Wow! Momo, BharatPe companies like these and many have raised funds from angel networks. Our aim is to be one of the active and happening Angel NetworkS in India, said Ravi Teja Gupta.

Elaborating on their plans, Ravi Teja said ‘we target to raise 50 lakhs to one crore investment for each startup. And we would like to support and help 100 startups to raise funds in the first financial year of our operations. Right now we have onboarded ten investors and 30 more investors are already confirmed and are in the process of onboarding. We plan to on board 100 investors in the next one quarter and 500 by the end of the year.

Plans are also on the anvil to create an investment fund from the Gupta community. And we are confident of creating a INR 100 crore fund in the next one year.

Among other things we look into are strategic investments and focus on bridge rounds (short-term rounds to cover up intervals between different rounds of raising funds), co-investments opportunities.

There was a huge request and demand from the community's successful people and organizations, shares Ravi Teja. They were looking for and exploring investment opportunities in the Indian Startup-Ecosystem, which is considered as the 3rd largest start-up ecosystem in the world after the US and China. Guptaji Invests would like to channelize their resources.

Guptaji Invests brings the Business Acumen, Success secrets of Gupta community and their business values. They are successful merchants and traders. They are known for their unwavering grip over hisab kitab. Gupthas dominate the e-commerce space in India. Four of the top 10 e-commerce outfits in India have been founded or co-founded by the people of this business community. The community has defined e-commerce in India. It is also called as the poster boy of Indian e-commerce. The members of this small community dominate the list of India's richest.

Agility Ventures Eye 4000 Angel Investors in 2022

(L-R) Dhianu Das and Prashant Narang, Co-Founders, Agility Ventures

Rs 50 crore earmarked for investments in segments like fintech, cyber security and crypto startups among others; they also plan to support new angels, especially women who are taking to this form of investment in a big way

As 2021 draws to an end, Agility Ventures has already chalked up its plans for 2022. One of the leading Angel Investors Networks in the country, the company has set a target of increasing its network by 4000, which currently has 1500+ angel investors.

The network is known to invest in startups or early-stage businesses like education, technology, healthcare, e-commerce, automobiles, electric vehicles, robotics, agri-tech and manufacturing among others. This year, it invested in 22-plus technology and D2C startups. It now plans to add startups in fintech, cyber security and crypto to their list of investments in the upcoming year. “Increase in internet users and access to information has opened doors for a lot of blockchain, fintech and cybersecurity startups to set up shop here. If this year has shown us anything, it is that India is home to brilliant minds working on brilliant solutions and Agility is here for them,” says Dhianu Das, Co-founder, Agility Ventures.

The fund earmarked for investing in startups, through the Angel Network, is Rs 50 crore.

2021 has seen a record level of tech startups turn into unicorns, which in turn has also attracted a record number of investors, including super angels. With startups proving to be an alternative investment choice, the numbers of angel investors have reportedly gone up 5-times this year. People from all walks of life are turning angels, including women who have also taken to the startup investment. Taking this into account, Agility Ventures is also looking forward to supporting these new angels with their weekly calls, Ask Agility.

"We look forward to welcoming new investors to this asset class and to welcoming global startups to be part of the Agility umbrella. We are hopeful that 2022 will be yet another year full of gainful exits and of Indian unicorns,” adds Prashant Narang, Co-Founder, Agility Ventures.

Apart from investments and targets, Agility Ventures' calendar also includes multiple events such as VC gatherings and a founder mixer. The network is spread across 20+ chapters in India, Canada, UAE, Australia, and the UK as well. Setting up a UAE-based team in February 2022 is one of the first steps in that direction.

Good News - Angel Investors in Startups Get Income Tax Exemption Up To 100%

Indian tax department yesterday exempted angel investors from income tax on their investments in startups with effect from April 11. The tax concessions are subject to certain conditions laid down by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) last month, which said that the share capital and share premium of the startup should not exceed Rs 10 crore after such investments.

Also the angel investor who plans to subscribe the shares in the start-up will have to fulfill prescribed criteria and the start-up will have to procure a report from a merchant banker, specifying the fair market value of the shares in accordance with income tax rules.

The Income Tax Department, on May 24, issued a notification, superseding its June 2016 notification. “…The Central Government, hereby notifies that the provisions of clause (viib) of sub-section (2) of section 56 of the said Act shall not apply to consideration received by a company for issue of shares that exceeds the face value of such shares, if the consideration has been received for issue of shares from an investor in accordance with the approval granted by the Inter-Ministerial Board of Certification,” the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said in the May 24 notification.

This notification comes into effect retrospectively from April 11, 2018, it said.

The decision to give investors in startups exemption from income tax was aimed at addressing a key issue faced by angel investors who put money during early growth stage, and would also provide level-playing field for all investors. The Commerce and Industry Ministry had on April 11 said that a start-up can seek tax concession under the section 56 of I-T act. The section 56 provides for taxation of funds received by an entity.

The CBDT has also amended Rule 11 UA (2)(b) of I-T Act, thereby making merchant banker valuation compulsory for the purpose of determining fair market value of unquoted equity shares, and omitted the word 'accountant'.

The notification further said that an angel investor with a minimum net worth of Rs 2 crore or an average returned income of over Rs 25 lakh in the preceding three financial years would be eligible for 100 percent tax exemption on investments made into start-ups above fair market value.

The notification is a welcome move in diminishing the fears of start-ups in relation to angel tax and providing the much-needed clarity with respect to non-applicability of angel tax.

Another key takeaway from the notification, is withdrawal of power from chartered accountants to issue valuation reports for purposes of angel tax. This is perhaps designed to bring in more sanctity to issuance of valuation report.

To recall, in this year's union budget, it was announced that time for claiming a tax holiday/exemption by eligible startups has been extended till 1-April 2021.

Startups and investors were expecting that the government will resolve the issue of angel tax in the this year budget of 2018 however the issue was left out completely.

Thereafter, a new clarification by Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia stated that genuine cases of startup valuation as assessed by DIPP will be exempt from paying taxes on angel investments received. However, this will also be applicable only for startups founded before 2016.

[Top Image - Blog.iPleaders.in]

Good News - Angel Investors in Startups Get Income Tax Exemption Up To 100%

Indian tax department yesterday exempted angel investors from income tax on their investments in startups with effect from April 11. The tax concessions are subject to certain conditions laid down by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) last month, which said that the share capital and share premium of the startup should not exceed Rs 10 crore after such investments.

Also the angel investor who plans to subscribe the shares in the start-up will have to fulfill prescribed criteria and the start-up will have to procure a report from a merchant banker, specifying the fair market value of the shares in accordance with income tax rules.

The Income Tax Department, on May 24, issued a notification, superseding its June 2016 notification. “…The Central Government, hereby notifies that the provisions of clause (viib) of sub-section (2) of section 56 of the said Act shall not apply to consideration received by a company for issue of shares that exceeds the face value of such shares, if the consideration has been received for issue of shares from an investor in accordance with the approval granted by the Inter-Ministerial Board of Certification,” the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said in the May 24 notification.

This notification comes into effect retrospectively from April 11, 2018, it said.

The decision to give investors in startups exemption from income tax was aimed at addressing a key issue faced by angel investors who put money during early growth stage, and would also provide level-playing field for all investors. The Commerce and Industry Ministry had on April 11 said that a start-up can seek tax concession under the section 56 of I-T act. The section 56 provides for taxation of funds received by an entity.

The CBDT has also amended Rule 11 UA (2)(b) of I-T Act, thereby making merchant banker valuation compulsory for the purpose of determining fair market value of unquoted equity shares, and omitted the word 'accountant'.

The notification further said that an angel investor with a minimum net worth of Rs 2 crore or an average returned income of over Rs 25 lakh in the preceding three financial years would be eligible for 100 percent tax exemption on investments made into start-ups above fair market value.

The notification is a welcome move in diminishing the fears of start-ups in relation to angel tax and providing the much-needed clarity with respect to non-applicability of angel tax.

Another key takeaway from the notification, is withdrawal of power from chartered accountants to issue valuation reports for purposes of angel tax. This is perhaps designed to bring in more sanctity to issuance of valuation report.

To recall, in this year's union budget, it was announced that time for claiming a tax holiday/exemption by eligible startups has been extended till 1-April 2021.

Startups and investors were expecting that the government will resolve the issue of angel tax in the this year budget of 2018 however the issue was left out completely.

Thereafter, a new clarification by Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia stated that genuine cases of startup valuation as assessed by DIPP will be exempt from paying taxes on angel investments received. However, this will also be applicable only for startups founded before 2016.

[Top Image - Blog.iPleaders.in]

Bengaluru-based Noticeboard Gets TFS founder and Former Myntra CTO As Angels

Bengaluru-based enterprise communication platform Noticeboard has picked up funding from two angel investors, Aprameya Radhakrishna, co-founder of TaxiForSure and Shamik Sharma, former CTO of Myntra, according to a report in the Times of India. In addition to providing the capital, Sharma has also comes aboard the company as a mentor. The funding from Sharma and Radhakrishna is part of recently closed financing round when the company raised capital from VCs such as Stellaris Venture Partners and others.

Founded last year by three individuals, Vishal Gahlaut, Vishesh Dahinwal and Sarath Chandran, Noticeboard is a communication platform for teams focused on delivering customer success.

It has been observed that often teams closest to customers are not connected to central teams, whether it is a business' delivery network, business partners or service agents. The startup believe in assimilating the frontline teams as it believes their insights are essential to delivering customer success.

According to the TOI report, Noticeboard has decided on using the funds raised for product development and hiring for some of the key positions. The company is also considering to expand its presence outside of the Indian subcontinent. "We have on boarded three big clients while several other small to medium sized companies have also joined us. We are conducting other pilots as well," said Vishal Gahlaut, co-founder of Noticeboard sharing his company's expansion plans.

Speaking about his latest investment, Sharma said "Noticeboard is on a unique journey to disrupt the way organizations manage their desk-less staff. Bringing the mobile workforce into the knowledge economy is possibly the biggest opportunity in the world of communication since email, and the team at Noticeboard is well on their path of establishing early dominance in this multi-billion dollar space."

According to Gahlaut, the startup had been garnering a lot of curiosity from various stakeholders in the US for expanding its operations there and the founding team is currently navigating through the proposal for the same.

[Image: Inc42 Media]

SEBI Sent Notice To 6 Angel Firms which Invested In Startups

As per a report by Economic Times, Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has sent notices to atleast six angel firms in one-and-a-half months asking them for details of their business. However, the names of these angel investment firms is not yet out in public domain.

In last couple of years its pretty evidently seen and noticed by our team too that lot of amateurish people better be called as 'Startup Brokers' are creating companies on Facebook (create Facebook pages) and present them as angel firms (which they are not) to budding entrepreneurs and newly formed startups. They however act as platform or matchmakers for startups to raise funds.

SEBI's primary queries are -- Who are people behind these angel networks? How do they raise these funds? Are they acting like unauthorized stock exchanges?

SEBI fears that these unpopular electronic players might be "playing matchmakers in equity or debt market, they are acting like stock exchanges which they are not authorized to do," the report said. “By facilitating the issuance of securities to more than 200 investors, some networks may be violating the rules of private placement,” the report added.

The regulator has also set up a team which is examining such cases.

Also, there are concerns whether some platforms are opening the doors to unscrupulous practices and alluring unsuspecting small investors, said the person.

"Under Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956, technically, any entity which assists in dealing in securities can be tagged ‘stock exchange’ but the application of such a wide provision has to be carefully thought through. Otherwise, any investment banker or an adviser facilitating a deal in unlisted securities (whether or not on an electronic platform) can be termed as a stock exchange,” said Tejesh Chitlangi, partner at IC Legal, a law firm which advises some angel networks, as quoted by ET.

Mumbai houses the highest number of angel investors

While Bengaluru might be holding the crown of being India's startup capital for quite a long time now, but it has unfortunately lost out on being crowned as the number one destination for India's angel investors. According to data made available by a study done by LetsVenture, an angel investing platform, Mumbai, the financial capital of India, houses the maximum number of angel investors in the country.

The study reveals that out of the total 1,800 angels in the country, the Mumbai-Pune belt is home to about 332 angel investors. This is followed by Bengaluru with 298 for the second position and DelhiNCR is a close third with 285 angel investors.

In addition to the numbers, the study also revealed several other interesting facts about angel investors in India. According to it, when compared to their United States counterparts, Angels in India do lesser due diligence and have a pattern of being Sector-Agnostic.

The findings reveal that angel investors in India end up spending only 4 to 10 hours in doing a due diligence of the startup that they are planning to invest their money in, whereas US investors dedicate around 20 hours on an average for the same. The study also talks about how Indian angel investors often schedule their meetings with entrepreneurs without any prior intimation, while their US counterparts holds their meetings twice every month, and they're planned much in advance for everyone's convenience.

India with its 1,800 angels forms just a fraction of the US's tally of around 300,000 angel investors. These figures strongly indicate that India's angel investing ecosystem is still in its beginning stage and has a long way to go. Though the figures don't look so faltering right now, they do offer a promising future ahead. This becomes almost double sure as last year saw the number of angel deals almost doubling to 691 from just 370 deals in the year 2014.

The LetsVenture report also predicts that 2016 will witness a number of bridge rounds, which is a round of funding that takes places between between the seed round and a full-blown Series A round. According to the report, we will be able to see a number of angels enthusiastically participating in these bridge rounds.

The report also talks about the huge disparity between the US and Indian startup industry regarding the exit procedure. Unlike in the United States, Indian angel investors have to play a waiting game for M&A opportunities or follow-on investments instead of an IPO to get an exit from their startup investments. Majority of the US based angel investors are provided with an opportunity to exit the startups within 3.5 years of their investment. But, an exit in the Indian subcontinent is highly unlikely.

]Top Image Source: Shutterstock ]

GPS Attendance System Weballigator Raises $375K in Angel Funding

[caption id="attachment_105775" align="alignnone" width="701"] Weballigator's Team[/caption]

Weballigator, a unique GPS Attendance System that caters to the small SME, has received Rs. 2.5 crore ($375,000) in an angel round from a group of HNIs and Angel investors. The investor names are still undisclosed however the company raised funding from people who work for JP Morgan in New York and another one is Investment Head of a multinational bank in Dubai. Blueleaf Software which owns Weballigator was started by Joseph Rasquinha, Raju Monga, Zaheer Hussain and Syed Hussain in 2012.

Web alligator provides a GPS Attendance for all the SME’s in the service industry. The SME’s may be poor in adopting technology, but there are 1 billion Indians on the mobile phone, and 500 million internet users are clocked thus far. So a GPS attendance will ensure that this market has the potential to gain efficiencies and provide Weballigator with tremendous growth opportunities.

One of its important points is that the GPS Attendance works on Mobile Towers and not Satellite. So it will not drain the battery of the person using the phone, which is an important point as the SME’s don't have the high end phones that bigger companies give their staff.

The company has being building the product for 3 years and tested it over 4,000 clients in 120 locations in India, it have officially launched the product only in the last 2 months. Its focus is through Partners, many of whom are its own clients. The firm has started contacting Partners in the last 2 weeks and generate 15 partnerships in a week.

Since Weballigator is targeted for the SME market, it costs just Rs. 10 a day for the entire company for 50 people. It takes just 5 minutes to setup and you are ready to go. A Partner does not need training. We do the support and setup remotely if necessary, but in most cases, find that this is not required, as the product is user friendly.

Commenting on the Weballigator’s future plans, Joseph Rasquinha said, “Weballigator is the major entry point for our clients. Once they have a comfort level, and expect to increase their staff, or add more efficiencies in their Company, they can subscribe to our other modules in Weballigator Plus. This has CRM, Finance (which connects to Tally), HR, Recruitment RMS, Performance Appraisal, and a few other modules which constitute a minor cloud ERP. In our estimate, around 25% of the clients will shift to Weballigator Plus. We are looking at adding over 1,000 Partners across India in the next 12 months, and going by present indications, this will be exceeded.”

He further added that we are also planning a totally disruptive module in finance in the next 6 weeks for SME’s. This has a captive market of 1 million SME’s. This module is in testing, with the rationale have come from a Partner who saw a crying need in the market.

A. M. Sikander, an investor in Weballigator and a Serial Entrepreneur, who owns a Rs. 100 crore logistics business said, ”For me, being in the logistics and services business, I see great opportunity for Weballigator in this space. India spends 14.4% of its GDP on Logistics and Transportation, and any product that services this market is a huge winner. This is a major reason for my investment in Weballigator."

Last month, two HNIs – Praveen Khandelwal and Yatin Kumar have invested $1 million in angel funding in Legal Raasta Technologies Pvt Ltd, which provides legal services to entrepreneurs, SMEs and professionals over its online platform legalraasta.com.

Cleaning Services Provider Broomberg Gets Pre Series A Funding from Angel Investors and HNIs

Delhi-based cleaning services provider Broomberg has raised an undisclosed amount of funding in pre-series A round of funding from a group of angel investors and high net-worth individuals (HNIs). There are two angel investors  and eight HNIs who have invested in the company. The company will utilize these funds to explore new marketing avenues.

The funding amount is still undisclosed by the company. Founded by Samrat Goyal and Ishan Baisoiya in 2014, Broomberg Cleaning Services Pvt Ltd is a specialized deep cleaning services provider for homes and offices. It currently provide services like Full Home Deep Cleaning, Bathroom Cleaning, Kitchen Cleaning, Sofa Cleaning, Car Cleaning in all of Delhi and NCR.

The startup offers professional cleaning services for homes and offices in Delhi and NCR including Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida, Indirapuram and Ghaziabad. Its cleaners are well trained, background checked and use advanced cleaning techniques to ensure the perfect deep clean.

Recent deals in this space

In February, Bangalore-based home services marketplace Housejoy, acquired at-home personal fitness tech startup Orobind for an undisclosed amount in an all-stock deal. The company also acquired cleaning and laundry startup MyWash Technologies Pvt Ltd. In the same month the on-demand home services platform Zimmber, acquired Gurgaon-based FindYahan India Pvt Ltd. In 2015, Paytm acquired homeservices provider Near in in December.

Cleaning Services Provider Broomberg Gets Pre Series A Funding from Angel Investors and HNIs

Delhi-based cleaning services provider Broomberg has raised an undisclosed amount of funding in pre-series A round of funding from a group of angel investors and high net-worth individuals (HNIs). There are two angel investors  and eight HNIs who have invested in the company. The company will utilize these funds to explore new marketing avenues.

The funding amount is still undisclosed by the company. Founded by Samrat Goyal and Ishan Baisoiya in 2014, Broomberg Cleaning Services Pvt Ltd is a specialized deep cleaning services provider for homes and offices. It currently provide services like Full Home Deep Cleaning, Bathroom Cleaning, Kitchen Cleaning, Sofa Cleaning, Car Cleaning in all of Delhi and NCR.

The startup offers professional cleaning services for homes and offices in Delhi and NCR including Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida, Indirapuram and Ghaziabad. Its cleaners are well trained, background checked and use advanced cleaning techniques to ensure the perfect deep clean.

Recent deals in this space

In February, Bangalore-based home services marketplace Housejoy, acquired at-home personal fitness tech startup Orobind for an undisclosed amount in an all-stock deal. The company also acquired cleaning and laundry startup MyWash Technologies Pvt Ltd. In the same month the on-demand home services platform Zimmber, acquired Gurgaon-based FindYahan India Pvt Ltd. In 2015, Paytm acquired homeservices provider Near in in December.