IAN plans to invest over Rs. 100 crore in startups
The environment for investment in the country has improved to a level where US-based startups have also started raising funds from India
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New Delhi: Venture capital consortium Indian Angel Network (IAN) is planning to invest over Rs 100 crore in startup firms across sectors in 2021, according to a governance committee member and Co-founder of the network.
IAN Co-founder Padmaja Ruparel said that the consortium members will evaluate opportunities in biotechnology, augmented reality, manufacturing and in the environment space.
"We will invest and we will exit both, and we will give returns. I think we will do much better than what we have done this year. I think more than Rs 100 crore we should look at," Ruparel said. IAN has invested in startups like FarEye, Fab Alley, HungryZone and Staqu. In 2020, IAN exited 3-4 companies after registering 15 times growth on the invested capital.
Ruparel said that IAN is present in different segments including in healthcare, biotech, med devices and wellness. "I think the other piece is anything driven by data and analytics. Anything driven by brand, IT. What we are looking at is innovative ideas with good entrepreneurs," Ruparel said. She said that the world is looking at India for growth and investment in Jio Platforms during the Covid-19 pandemic is a testament to this very fact. Jio Platforms raised a total of Rs 1.52 lakh crore from companies such as Facebook, Qualcomm Ventures and Google in mid-2020, when Covid-19 cases were rising every day.
"We will see innovation and entrepreneurs catering to problems in India or catering to solutions for India. I think these solutions will also be applicable for global problems," Ruparel said. She said that the environment for investment in the country has improved to a level where US-based startups have also started raising funds from India.
"To me, 2021 looks very interesting. I think what 2020 has done will obviously impact 2021 also but we will continue to invest at the same pace or I would say higher pace actually. I think a lot of the new areas will come up. The reality is that onlines and technology are now here to stay," Ruparel said. IAN funded about Rs 100 crore in 45-50 companies in 2020, she said.
