2016’s Top 5 Angel Investors - Who would India Chase in 2017?

2016-has been a promising year for many startups in the Indian ecosystem, and it’s time again to welcome a new year. With great enthusiasm BWDisrupt brings to you some startling facts about the most active angel investors in India & who the startups will chase in 2017?

Arch-angels or guardian-angels, whatever one might call them… No one can really understand what they go through while deciding the right eggs. Seed funding and planning exits are stressful decisions to make, aren’t they!

Well, without delaying anymore let’s take a quick flashback:

#1 The number one position is occupied by Dheeraj Jain, (Partner RedCliffe Capital) this year. This place was in 2015, taken by Mohandas Pai with 18 deals, in 2015. It seems Jain has made quite more thoughtful decisions and settled for not more than 23. Dheeraj Jain’s Choicest Best- Deyor Rooms, Shipsy, Zocalo, Simpli5d, Burger Singh (2), Xanadu Heights, JustRide, Coho, Mappr, Dogspot (2), TableHero, Oprahi Wines, Q Desq, inFeedo(2), Lifcare, Shaadisaga, Yumlane.

Sharing his views about 2017 - Dheeraj said, “I would like to invest in B2B-Saas, AI and some B2C businesses and at the same time my company would be keen on investing in startups developing AR/VR mechanisms and last but not the least, I’ll also have an eye for robotic startups.”

He also plans to double the average deal size of the investments he has made so far (i.e. now the range would be $50,000-$2,50,000) and also indicated an interest in investing in later rounds of funding in startups from now on.

#2 This time we have Anand Chandrasekaran, (Strategy Head, Facebook Messenger) right after, with 20 deals in his kitty. He acquired the second rung from Ratan Naval Tata, who was here with 17 deals previously. Anand Chadrasekaran's Chosen Best- Makkajai, ToneTag, NoBroker, MoEngage, Wooplr, Buttercups, Truce, MagicX, Lucideus (2), LoanCircle, Rupeek, Lernr, Gold VIP Technology, Aisle, Rentongo.com, SplitKart, CREO, Gamezop.

#3 At number three we have none other than Kunal Naresh Shah, (Founder & Chairman, FreeCharge) has invested in 19 startups at the seed stage and taken the place of Rajan Anandan, who had made 16 investment deals the previous year. Kunal Naresh Shah’s Favourites-Pocket Aces, Bharat Bazaar, Gold VIP Technology Solutions (Crown-It), Unacademy, Shaadi Saga, Remitware Payments, Daily Ninja, Twigly, Voonik, Inc42, Cookifi, Pianta, Dil Mil, LifCare, Table Hero, Flyrobe, Zilingo, Razorpay, Pocket Aces.

#4 Not so down below, Ratan Naval Tata, (Interim Chairman, Tata & Sons) is still in the list with a total of 17 deals locked. Last year, Kunal Bahl stood at this position with 15 deals. Ratan Naval Tata’s Picks- MadRat Games, MUrgency, Techbins Solutions (Niki.ai), Snabizz Cloudtech, RKSV Securities, Pouring Pounds India (CashKaro.com), BagsKart.com, WatchKart.com, NestAway, MogliLabs (Moglix), Invictus Oncology, FirstCry, Tracxn Technologies, Teabox, KyaZoonga

#5 At number five, the place is taken by Anupam Gopal Mittal, (Founder and CEO, People Group) who selected to invest in 15 startups this year. Last year, this position was enjoyed by Rohit Kumar Bansal with 15 deals too. Anupam Gopal Mittal’s Select- Infeedo, LetsMD, Bharat Bazaar, Blink, Shaadisaga.com, Vebbler, Daily Ninja, Yumlane, Blinge, Rapido, HashLearn, SplitKart.

Out of the overall deals locked this year, the angel investments and seed funding amount to about 60% of the big total- i.e. 679 startups got funded by angel investors where in the total deals counted were 877. The year witnessed a combined amount of $4 Billion being invested in Indian startups where grossly $161.5 Million amounted to seed funding alone.

“Generally, a lot more individuals and HNIs (high net-worth individuals) are coming to appreciate angel investment as an asset class. Today more and more people are looking at it as a viable alternative,” said Ajay Hattangdi, group chief operating officer and chief executive officer, India, at InnoVen Capital

Healthtech and E-commerce have been the most favored sectors for investment followed by SaaS, Fintech, Edtech, and Hyperlocal. Overall, the number of angel and seed deals has come down from 872 in 2015 to 679 this year, according to data Tracxn.com

Well, to add to this trend, many auto-tech ventures like CarTrade, CarDekho, Droom, Truebil and DrivoJoy, as well as many alternative lending ventures, have also become angel investment hotspots. Not only technology giants, but non-tech companies like Axis Bank, Barclays, Target Retail, Lowe, Disney, and Business World have also launched programs for startups.

BWDisrupts covers the daily happenings in the world of startups, also covers entrepreneurs who can inspire others to take entrepreneurship. The platform provides assistance to young aspiring entrepreneurs with disruptive ideas and connect them with investors, giving them an opportunity to interact with eminent personalities of corporate world.

To contact the author, share an email at soumya@businessworld.in.