India’s thriving start-up ecosystem includes robust incubating infrastructure, tax incentives, cash grants, and financing schemes. This has led to a significant increase in the number of startups in the country over the last decade or so If you’re an early-stage startup looking for funding, India is a good place to be. If you intend to approach Angel investors, make sure you target the right investor (who invests in your industry/sector) and make the right pitch.
List of the most active angel investors in India
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1. Rajan Anandan:
Rajan Anandan is the Former Vice President of Google India. Currently Rajan Anandan is the Managing Director of Sequoia Capital. Rajan Anandan is the co-founder of Blue Ocean Ventures in Sri Lanka. He currently invests in Startups spread across India and Sri Lanka.
Sector: Consumer Internet, Digital Media, SaaS, Social Games, Cloud Computing, Analytics, Healthcare.
Portfolio: Avaz, Capillary Technology, Instamojo, DataWeave, Hello English.
Connect With Him: LinkedIn | Twitter | AngelList
2. T.V. Mohandas Pai:
Mohandas Pai is the former CFO and Board Member at Infosys. Mohandas Pai has served as the Chairman of the Board of SEBI, and is now a Board Member of the National Stock Exchange in India. He has been an active Angel Investor. His focus has been on early-stage investments in technology startups.
Sector: Consumer Internet, Technology startups, Media.
Portfolio: Zimmber, YourStory, Zoomcar, Karyah, Faircent
Connect With Him: LinkedIn | Twitter | AngelList
3. Anand Chandrasekaran:
Anand Chandrasekaran was the former Director of Messenger platform at Facebook and he co-founded Aeroprise Inc which was later acquired by BMC Software. He is currently the Executive Vice President at Five9. He made 20 angel investments in the year 2016.
Sector: Consumer Internet, SaaS and Fintech.
Portfolio: EduRev, Edyst, Nexkey, NoBroker, Fynd
Connect With Him: LinkedIn | AngelList
4. Sandeep Tandon:
Sandeep Tandon is co-founder of mobile wallet FreeCharge. He is the Board Member of Fintech startup CRED. He is also the Executive Chairman of Syrma Technology Pvt Ltd. In 2017 he invested in 23 startups including in online lending platform Ziploan. Sandeep serves as a mentor to various technology startups.
Sector: Enterprise Software, Consumer Internet, Clean Technology, Fintech.
Portfolio: Ziploan, Inc42 Media, Razorpay, Unacademy, Spinny.
Connect With Him: LinkedIn | AngelList
5. Sanjay Mehta:
Sanjay Mehta is the Founder and Partner at 100X.VC. Sanjay Mehta is an Investor member of Indian Angel Network, Venture Nursery & Mumbai Angel Network groups. He has invested in more than 100 startup companies. Sanjay Mehta’s area of interest have been social, mobility, analytics and cloud.
Sector: Clean Technology, Consumer Internet, Enterprise Software, Healthcare, Logistics.
Portfolio: LogiNext, Box8, InstaSafe, CoinDCX, Zippr
Connect With Him: LinkedIn | AngelList | Twitter
6. Ratan Tata:
Ratan Tata is an Indian Industrialist, Philanthropist and a former Chairman of Tata Sons. He is one of the major players in Angel Investment Community. Ratan Tata has mentored and invested in a number of startups and businesses. Ratan Tata actively supports women entrepreneurs, startups with female co-founders which have received funds from Ratan Tata include Zivame by Richa Kar, Kaaryah by Nidhi Agarwal to name a few.
Sector: Technology sector, E-commerce, Healthcare.
Portfolio: Xiomi, One97 Communications, UrbanClap, YourStory, GOQii, Crayon Data.
Connect With Him: Twitter
7. Vijay Shekhar Sharma:
Vijay Shekhar Sharma is the founder and CEO of Paytm and One97 Communications Limited. He was ranked as India’s youngest billionaire in 2017 by Forbes with a net worth of $1.3 billion. Vijay Shekhar Sharma knows everything about building great mobile companies.
Sector: Fintech, Consumer Internet, Ed-Tech, Mobile Commerce.
Portfolio: EduKart, Hiver, InnerChef, LogiNext, AirStream.
Connect With Him: LinkedIn | AngelList | Twitter
8. Sachin Bansal:
Sachin Bansal is the co-founder of Flipkart, that was acquired by Walmart at $16 billion in 2018. Sachin Bansal is currently the Managing Director of Navi Technologies, his entrepreneurial venture in the field of financial services. Sachin Bansal has invested in more than 14 startups.
Sector: Internet Services, SaaS, Analytics & AI, Online Commerce
Portfolio: Unacademy, Ather Energy, Inshorts, Plabro Networks, Tracxn
Connect With Him: LinkedIn | Twitter
9. Anupam Mittal:
Anupam Mittal is the founder of People Group, which includes businesses such as Shaadi.com, Makaan.com and Mauj Mobile. He also served as Investment Committee Member at India Quotient. Anupam Mittal has become a prominent name in the angel investors network. He has invested in more than 50 startups.
Sector: Consumer Internet, Mobile, Marketplaces, SaaS, Healthcare.
Portfolio: Keeto, Ola cabs, Pipemonk, Truebil, Kae Capital.
Connect With Him: LinkedIn | Twitter | AngelList
10. Girish Mathrubootham:
Girish Mathrubootham is the Founder and CEO of Freshworks. Prior to founding Freshworks, Girish was the Vice President of Product Management at Zoho Corporation. He has invested in over 60 startups and is a founding member of SaaSBOOMI, Asia’s largest community of founders and product builders of India’s SaaS industry.
Sector: SaaS, Consumer Internet, Enterprise Software, Customer Support, Education.
Portfolio: Unacademy, Tracxn, GoBumper, Zarget, Innov8.
Connect With Him: LinkedIn | Twitter | AngelList
11. Dheeraj Jain:
Dheeraj Jain is a Co-Founder and serves as a Managing Director & Board Member at Redcliffe Life Sciences. He is also an Advisor at Qume (Financial Software). Student housing startup Coho was Dheeraj’s first investment in India. Dheeraj Jain is an active Angel Investor.
Sector: Healthcare, Biotechnology, AI, Virtual Realty, Consumer Internet.
Portfolio: JustRide, Qdesq, Yumlane, Mappr, Shaadisaaga
Connect With Him: LinkedIn
12. Anand Ladsariya:
Anand Ladsariya is the founder of Everest Flavours Ltd., a privately owned company, manufacturer and exporter of Menthol and Peppermint oil. He is an active Angel Investor with both Mumbai Angels and Indian Angel Network. He has invested in more than 35 start-ups. He is also part of the Planning Commission’s ” Committee on Angel Investment and Early Stage Venture Capital.
Sector: Education, Software, Location Based Services, Social media, Content Discovery.
Portfolio: Alogrhtym, Aurality, Mobiquest, Oyo Rooms, Mynthra.
Connect with him: LinkedIn | AngelList
13. Gokul Rajaram:
Gokul Rajaram is the EX-Product Director of Facebook. He is the founder of Chai Labs & Flight.vc. He has been consistently investing in early-stage technology startups. Gokul is an Independent Director of The Trade Desk and Pinterest. Gokul is an angel investor in startup companies. He has extensive experience across a broad range of Internet technologies.
Sector: Analytics & AI, SaaS, Media, Internet Services,
Portfolio: AquaCloud, Array Ventures, Airtable, LivSpace, Edu Fire
Connect with him: LinkedIn | Twitter | AngelList
14. Amit Somani:
Amit Somani is the Managing Partner of Prime Venture Partners. Amit has more than 20 years of experience in technology and internet industries. He is the former Group Product Manager at Google. Amit has also been the head of various teams focusing on search, mobile and advertisement products at Google. He has also been the Chief Products Officer for MakeMyTrip. He was part of leadership team that took the company public on NASDAQ in 2010.
Sector: Consumer Internet, Travel Industry
Portfolio: MindTickle, Qikwell Technologies India, HotelTravel.com, Ixigo.com
Connect With Him: LinkedIn | Twitter
15. Kunal Bahl:
Kunal Bahl is the Co-Founder and CEO of the e-commerce platform Snapdeal, he is also the co-founder of Titan Capital. He is focused on innovation in consumer products, technologies and marketing services. He graduated from Wharton School of Pennsylvania.
Sector: Consumer Internet, Fintech, B2C Marketplace
Portfolio: Razorpay, Urban Company, Tripoto, Headout, Snapdeal, Ola
Connect With Him: LinkedIn | AngelList | Twitter
16. Kunal Shah:
Kunal Shah is the Founder and CEO of Fintech startup CRED. Kunal is the Ex-CEO of FreeCharge. He is also Advisor to The Board Bennett Coleman and Co. Ltd. Kunal Shah’s first startup venture was Paisaback, which provided cash-back promotions for organized retailers. His profile as angel investor has been dynamic.
Sector: Fintech, Consumer Internet, Co-working Spaces, E-Commerce
Portfolio: Innov8, Unacademy, Pianta, Inc42, Razorpay.
Connect With Him: LinkedIn | Twitter
17. Zishaan Hayath:
Zishaan is the Founder and CEO of e-learning platform Toppr. He also Co-Founded Chaupaati Bazaar, a phone commerce startup which was later acquired by Future Group. Zeeshan Hayath is an emerging name in the Angel Investor network.
Sector: E-Commerce, Travel, Consumer Internet, SaaS, Real Estate, Education.
Portfolio: Housing.com, Ola Cabs, Shadowfax, Inayo, BookEventZ
Connect With Him: LinkedIn | Twitter | AngelList
18. Binny Bansal:
Binny Bansal is the Co-Founder of India’s largest e-commerce company Flipkart. Currently he is the Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of xto10x Technologies. Binny Bansal has made closed to 30 personal investments including in Cure.Fit, the health and wellness platform and Myntra.
Sector: E-Commerce, SaaS, Healthcare, Ed-Tech
Portfolio: Ather Energy, Unacademy, CureFit, Roposo, News in Shorts.
Connect With Him: LinkedIn | AngelList
19. Naveen Tiwari:
Naveen Tiwari is the Founder and CEO of mobile advertising and technology platform-InMobi. He has a Bachelor’s degree from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT) and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Harvard Business School. He has been recognized for his entrepreneurial skills at various platforms. Naveen Tiwari is an active Angel Investor.
Sector: Technology, Co working spaces, Online Games
Portfolio: Zimmber, Razorpay, ZAPR, Wooplr
Connect With Him: LinkedIn
20. Ganesh Krishnan:
Ganesh Krishnan is the founder and former CEO of TutorVista, an online tutoring company. He is currently a Partner at GrowthStory. It is a venture-builder platform that Ganesh and his wife, Meena set up in 2011 which has promoted India’s most disruptive startups including Big Basket, Fresh Menu, Home Lane and many more. Ganesh Krishnan graduated from Delhi College of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering and did Post graduation from IIM-Calcutta.
Sector: Healthcare, Education, Consumer Internet, Tech Companies.
Portfolio: HackerEarth, Browntape, Onlineprasad.com, Overcart, SilverPush.
Connect With Him: LinkedIn | AngelList
21. Ravi Gururaj:
Ravi Gururaj is the Founder and CEO of QikPod where he is building a nationwide network of parcel delivery lockers in partnership with top tier investors and strategic industry partners. He is a member of NASSCOM Executive Council and VC Council of the Indian Venture Capital Association ( IVCA). Ravi Gururaj is an angel investor and a mentor to numerous entrepreneurs and technology executives.
Sector: Consumer Internet, Enterprise Software, Mobile, Cloud Computing, SaaS.
Portfolio: Socialblood, Appvigil, AppVirality, PrettySecerets, Tuebora.
Connect With Him: LinkedIn | Twitter | AngelList
22. Anirudh Damani:
Anirudh Damani is the Managing Partner at Artha Venture Fund and Artha Energy Resources, he is also a Director at Artha India Ventures, which is a Venture Capital and Renewable Energy investment firm. He graduated from Austin College in Economics and Business Administration. Anirudh Damani also co-founded Pioneer Energy Resources and exited it in 2012.
Sector: Consumer Internet, Enterprise Software, Mobile, Clean Technology.
Portfolio: OYO Rooms, Exotel. Maximojo, InVenture, Klip.in
Connect With Him: LinkedIn |Twitter
23. Ritesh Malik:
Ritesh Malik is the Founder and CEO of Innov8 Co-working Spaces, it is India’s second largest co-working space impacting entrepreneurs, freelancers and enterprises. Ritesh has been one of the most active angel investors in the country. He has invested in more than 40+ companies in the last six years under Project Guerilla. Innov8 was sold to OYO in 2019.
Sector: Consumer Internet, Enterprise Software, Education, Clean Technology, News.
Portfolio: Inc42 media, Keeto, Josh Talks, Wigzo Technologies, Exploride.
Connect With Him: LinkedIn | Twitter | AngelList
24. Sharad Sharma:
Sharad Sharma is the former CEO of Yahoo! India R&D. He co-founded iSPIRIT Foundation, a non-profit technology think tank devoted to making India a product nation. Sharad Sharma has more than 22 years of global experience in the Internet and Enterprise Software.
Sector: Consumer Internet, Mobile, Medical Devices, SaaS, Social Games.
Portfolio: Druva Software, Consure Medical, Frrole, Mobilewalla.
Connect With Him: LinkedIn | AngelList | Twitter
25. Abhishek Rungta:
Abhishek Rungta is the Founder and CEO at Indus Net Technologies, which has active clients across banking, financial services, insurance, retail, media, healthcare and entertainment sectors in five continents. Abhishek is an active Angel Investor. Abhishek is also the Co-Founder of EnergyTech Ventures, an Operational Analytics Software for Commercial Real Estate. Abhishek has been an active angel investor and he helps startups grow.
Sector: SaaS, Advertising, Consumer Internet, Digital Media, Enterprise Software.
Portfolio: Trell, LetsVenture, EvaBot, Sanfe, Neemans.
Connect With Him: LinkedIn | Twitter | AngelList