Lead Angels, an angel fund set up by the alumni of IITs, is targeting to invest in 12 start-ups this financial year.

The angel investment group, which generally picks up 10-15 per cent of equity in the start-ups that invests, has invested in nine entities with an aggregate investments of ₹15 crore.

Investors cautious

Sushanto Mitra , Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Lead Angels, said that reason and sanity had set in, with investors deploying their investments more cautiously than in the past

“It is a learning experience for both investors and start-ups. You can’t copy the US model in India. One must remember that it is much harder to do these things in India. The Western models don’t necessarily work in India,” he said.

On some start-ups’ constant penchant to raise funds, he said one should build a business in such a way that it should not stop for want of funding.

“Make a profitable business. It should live even if investments don’t flow in,” he pointed out.

17 start-ups in all

The three-year-old angel group has about 130 members in five chapters across the country. With just two firms in its portfolio, Lead Angels now has 17 start-ups in different verticals.

“Now that we have a well-spread out network in the country, we would now like to forge partnerships with similar groups in other parts of the country,” he said.

He said the group had been established to professionalise the space.

TinMen, a Hyderabad-based meal delivery start-up that received angel funding from Lead Angels, has recently raised an undisclosed investment round from MAPE Advisory Group, R Ramaraj, Co-founder, Sify, and Corvus Ventures led by Mahesh Reddy.

Existing seed investor Lead Angels has also participated in the round.

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