Angel investing in India is broken. Here's how AngelList wants to fix that

More than 4,000 angel investors from India are registered on its site, reports Tech in Asia

Angel investing in India has grown popular in recent times, but it’s still a scattered process. Unlike in the United States – the mecca of all things tech, startups, and funding – very few angels in India are themselves tech entrepreneurs, which means they are often in the game only for the money. China has its own problems as well.

AngelList, founded by Naval Ravikant in 2010, is hoping to change that. The Silicon Valley-based company helps entrepreneurs and investors connect, building a network where they can collaborate with peers and experts across the world, drawing on each others’ expertise and experiences. It also has a jobs service where companies and candidates can connect directly, without middlemen.

In August 2016, the company announced that it will let accredited investors create funds to invest in Indian startups. 

AngelList hasn’t officially rolled out its syndicate in India yet, but the country is already the company’s second biggest market in terms of numbers for talent searches, Utsav says. 

Utsav says the company is still working out the legalities of operating in India, but that it’s on track to launch officially this year.

More than 4,000 angel investors from India are registered on its site. There are 750 active angels and about 450 VCs, Utsav says.

A standing criticism of the Indian startup ecosystem is that there aren’t enough investors around. This means that, once startups are rejected by major VCs, they have few options left. Most entrepreneurs don’t think of going to the bank at all, for various reasons. 

This works best for an investor who may find an interesting startup or a particular sector that she wants to invest in but only wants to place a relatively small amount of money into it. 

This is an excerpt from an article published on TechInAsia. You can read the full story here