AngelList enters India, appoints Utsav Somani as advisor

Founded by Indian-born Naval Ravikant, AngelList pioneered the concept of "syndicate" - pool of investors joining hands to invest in a startup

AngelList, the online listing platform that helps startups secure early stage funding, is expanding into India, a market which is witnessing growth of high networth individuals backing new firms.

Founded by Indian-born Naval Ravikant, AngelList pioneered the concept of "syndicate" - pool of investors joining together to invest in a startup. The firm has appointed Utsav Somani, an angel investor to oversee its India operations. So far, AngelList has seen over 1,000 startups raise $ 360 million from 170 active Syndicates. Its investments include Twitter and Uber.

"My role will consist of opening dialogue with government officials and regulators with suggestions that'll benefit startups and investors in India. I'll map out the Indian regulatory framework so AngelList can come in with their pop-up VC structure that enables venture investing online at scale, " wrote Somani in a post on Medium where he announced that he is an advisory to AngelList.

AngelList currently has 656 accredited investors based in India, and a further 5,951 who are interested, technology portal TechCrunch said, which reported the development first.

The platform has a job board that is popular with startups globally, who list job openings for new recruits. It has 16,000 companies seeking people with 40,000 new jobs added each month. So far, the firm has helped in getting jobs for over 10,000 people.

"I am excited to be coached by Silicon Valley's sharpest minds in venture investing and leverage their decades of know-how to advance the startup ecosystem in India. Also, this marks a chance for global investors to participate in India's most promising opportunities," wrote Somani.

India has similar platforms in LetsVenture, backed by investors such as Ratan Tata and T V Mohandas Pai which has helped 81 startups raise funding. The Indian Angel Network, the largest angel investment community has a similar approach with over 400 investors, who also work as mentors to these firms

Angel Investments in India grew 62 per cent to Rs 113.66 crore in fiscal 2016, according to a study by venture debt firm Innoven Capital. It had tracked investments made by angel groups - Indian Angel Network, Mumbai Angels, Chennai Angels, Hyderabad Angels and Calcutta Angels - found that these groups had increased investments in startup companies over the year.