The Little Angels: Early Stage Startups, Angel Networks, Unicorns

Bilaspur, Cuttack, Siliguri, Ajmer, Kota, Rajkot, Amravati, Jammu, Surat, Nagpur... The list goes on. These are some of the prominent non-metro cities and towns in India that are famous for a variety of reasons ranging from teas to textiles and from education to temples. But there is a new, unique thread that binds these and many other Tier-II/III cities in the country — angel investor networks. Individual angel investors have been around as long as start-ups have. But over the past few years, the ones from India’s smaller cities have come together to create regional angel platforms or networks dedicated to participating in the country’s vibrant start-up environment.

These platforms were created to facilitate investments in early-stage start-ups that typically look to raise between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 2 crore. While they started out developing regional start-up ecosystems, the likes of Surat Angels, Chandigarh Angels, Marwari Catalysts Ventures and Nagpur Angels, among others, now fund start-ups across the country.