We Founder Circle: Creating a platform of angels for early-stage startups

The community the firm has built is India's second largest angel network, with 2,000 founders and strategic investors from 16 countries. It closed its first year with 33 investments worth $20 mn in al

For Neeraj Tyagi, co-founder and CEO of We Founder Circle, an early stage startup investment platform, the fact that the platform has emerged as the second largest angel investor network in India in 2021 is just another milestone. He does say that WFC will really create an impact if it can create a community ecosystem of founders and strategic investors on a large scale.

“Between me and Gaurav (co-founder) we have invested in over 105 startups in the last five years. But signing up startups is not just our aim. Over the last seven years I realised that early stage founders are not just looking for capital. They also want strategic help, mentoring for scaling or creating a roadmap for products etc.,” shares Tyagi with Business Standard.

This made Tyagi come up with an idea of a platform that brings founders and strategic investors on one single platform. Tyagi says that the creation of WFC also based on the feedback he received from several startups he had invested in and which have now become success stories

The pandemic also became a catalyst in the launch of the WFC. “While the idea was good, reaching out to founders who are in different cities, countries and connecting was a challenge, in a way the pandemic became a catalyst for the creation of a digital community of founders and investors,” added Tyagi.

Since the formation of WFC in 2020, the platform has 2,000 founders and strategic investors on the platform from over 16 countries. The platform has closed its first year with 33 investments with a total investment size of $20 million.

With the success of the first year, Tyagi and the team at the WFC has upped the tempo. To start with the sweet spot for investments is anywhere between $100,000 and $300,000. This has gone up from $50,000 to $150,000 when they started. Two the platform has also applied for the setting up of an Angel Fund to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). The size of the fund will be around Rs 200 crore, added Tyagi.

More importantly, the platform is now becoming a place where startups with a zero to three-year lifecycle can be addressed. This starts with a pre-seed series round with its Accelerator programme, EvolveX that was started in November, then catering to the slightly older startups and finally an Angel Fund for pre-series A round of funding.

“We are creating a funnel of zero to three years life cycle of a startup journey. We started with angel funding. We also created an early funnel by creating an accelerator programme in November and taking pre-seed companies and helping them grow. For the Accelerator programme the idea to take six companies in one batch and we give seed investment of $20,000 in seed and also a credit of $150,000 credit to each of these companies for a three month programme, and we also work with them to raise further funds after this programme is completed,” added Tyagi.

We Founder Circle has four key founders who bring in their own expertise. While Tyagi has a strong network among founders and has worked with Venture Catalyst and also invested in firms independently, he is also supported by Gaurav V K Singhvi, who brings in his immense experience of banking and a strong connect to the hinterland to tap into small town entrepreneurs, Bhawna Bhatnagar brings her experience of Bytedance and Cheetah Mobile and heads the global partnerships and Deo Saurabh, who is the tech head.

When asked about the recent trends of easy availability of funds as each and every founder that has managed to raise funds are easily signing cheques, and how does it impact the early stage entrepreneurs? “I know that there is easy money available right now and I've never seen in my seven years as an investor, the kind of money that I've seen in the past 12 months. I think the ownership lies on each one of us. Right from media partners, fund houses, we are putting too much limelight around fundraising, which is fine. I think the profitability aspect and how the company is growing should also be the focus,” added Tyagi.

Tyagi shares that the idea of WFC is not just about financial investment but focus is on portfolio management. “We have 2,000 angels on WFC, but only 500 have made financial investments and the rest are actively engaged with us and the portfolio firms,” he said.

To further deepen its connection with the entrepreneurial network, WFC has created Campus Fund, which will allow then to tap into the campus entrepreneurial setup.

“People in our community are very passionate about nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit at the campuses. This year we are looking at creating at least 7-8 partnerships with IITs and IIMs. After this, we will also look to partner with smaller institutes as well,” added Tyagi.

Table: WFC Key Investments

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