by NR INDRAN / INT

New Delhi :India’s largest and oldest angel network group, Indian Angel network, has drawn up a strategy to help new entrepreneurs to address exciting growth opportunities for developing Internet and Mobile products, services and applications to address this burgeoning market.

The Indian Angel Network members recognize that to scale up, most technology and IP creation enterprises need funds and mentoring. As part of its twin strategy IAN hopes to fund dozens of early start-ups building Mobile, Internet based products up to Rs. 75 lakh.

To add value to these new ventures, IAN members–comprising successful entrepreneurs and CEOS—offer valuable mentoring support and participate in helping build businesses, refining the product strategy and shaping growth of the new companies early on.

The Network has already invested in 25 companies across multiple sectors, including several attractive partial or full exits.

Entrepreneurs can send in their business plans to [email protected]. A set of short listed firms from among the business plans received will get a chance to present their plan and network with IAN Angel Investors in Delhi in November 2011.

IAN is India’s first angel investment network and looks to invest up to US$ 1 million, though our sweet spot is between US$ 400 to 600K. Apart from funding, the Network also provides mentoring, strategic thought leadership and helps leverage the Network’s network for the investee companies. The Network has already invested in 25 companies across multiple sectors.

Looking at an overwhelming number of requests for funding in the pre angel funding stage from entrepreneurs in the Mobile and Internet products and services space IAN now proposes to consider requests for investments up to Rs 75 lakh.

IAN has over 170 members drawn from across the country and some from overseas, including leading successful entrepreneurs and successful CEOs from diverse sectors. IAN Members include Jerry Rao, Saurabh Srivastava, Pramod Bhasin, Raman Roy, Rajan Anandan, Rehan Yar Khan, Harish Mehta, Rajiv Luthra, Pradeep Gupta, Sunil Munjal, Arvind Singhal and institutions such as IBM, SIDBI, Spice Televentures, Intel.

IAN’s Department of Science and Technology supported Incubator is currently incubating over two dozen start ups with select angel investors mentoring them. Along with other services (viz. IT, HR, Marketing, Small Funding) of the IAN Incubator, the start-up gets help in re-defining the proposition to create an investable business for an angel investor.

You can contact author @ [email protected]