<article>The Indian Angel Network is aiming to close its maiden venture capital fund by October, in a run up to which it is now eyeing foreign funding.</article>

The Indian Angel Network is aiming to close its maiden venture capital fund by October, in a run up to which it is now eyeing foreign funding.
Last year, the country&#8217;s largest angel network had launched the SEBI-registered fund with a target of raising Rs 350  crore ($350 million) and a greenshoe option of Rs 100 crore ($14 million).
While a majority of the fund has been raised from domestic backers, the Delhi-based investment network has received interest from overseas investors, which the network is now looking to tap into, Padmaja Ruparel, Founding partner, Indian Angel Network told DEALSTREETASIA in an interview.
Indian Angel Network has so far raised over Rs 250 crore for the fund, which had reached its first close at Rs 175 crore in April last year. The fund has so far received backing form institutional investors including Govt of India’s fund of fund for startups through SIDBI, India Infoline, Yes Bank, Max Group, Grey Matters Capital and Hyundai among others.
&#8220;At this stage, considering we will be looking at closing the fund very quickly, it will have to be people who can make a quick decision and commit, if they wish to. Therefore, it would be more the HNIs and Ultra HNIs and family offices, only because our time is running out and we are looking to close the fund really quickly,&#8221; she said.
Focused on investing in a broad range of sectors including healthcare and medical devices, SaaS, marketplaces, fintech, big data, AI and hardware, Indian Angel Network has already invested in 17 companies so far through this fund.
According to Ruparel, once the fund is closed, the investment firm will accelerate its pace and double the number of investments it plans to make.
&#8220;Once the fund closes we will absolutely accelerate. As we are reaching a close, we have already starting to look at building a pipeline&#8230;We should be able to double the investments in the next one year,&#8221; she said.
Through its angel network and new fund, IAN had earlier said that it aims to invest around Rs 1,500 crore ($234 million) in around 160 companies over the next four years, with the ability to write cheques from Rs 25 lakh to Rs 50 crore.
&#8220;IAN as an angel fund was already functioning as a VC. We were going th whole 9 yards of the investment cycle from building the pipeline, to raising funds, to growing it, ensuring that the documentation is done. Post investment we were helping the companies in every way possible— helping them grow, gain market access, getting grants, we were doing the negotiations with the next round investors and all of that, till the exit. In essence we were working as a VC fund, the only thing that is added here is that it is regulated by SEBI,&#8221; said Ruparel.
Established in 2006, Indian Angel Network is the largest in the country one of the major angel networks globally with close to 450 members across the world. With investors from 10 countries, IAN’s presence spans seven locations, which includes cities in India and UK.
The network also has plans to expand its reach to Southeast Asia, with possible investments in the region after the closure of its fund.
&#8220;Southeast Asia expansion is also on the cards and that will also get accelerated once we are through with fund raising. We are looking at SEA, we already have portfolio companies with presence there, but we are also starting to look at that (SEA expansion),&#8221; Ruparel said.
A number of India-focused venture capital firms have reached major milestones in their funds recently, led by Sequoia Capital India closing its sixth fund at $695 million which will target early and growth stage investments across India and Southeast Asia (SEA). Also, earlier this month Matrix Partners India has announced the close of its third fund at $300 million, having received commitments from 43 investors.
Also Read:
<a style="color: #ff0000;" href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/71203-71203/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Indian Angel Network marks first close of maiden early-stage fund at $27m</a>
<a style="color: #ff0000;" href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/56830-56830/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Exclusive: Indian Angel Network looks to expand into SEA: Padmaja Ruparel</a>

Indian Angel Network aims to close maiden VC vehicle by Oct, eyes foreign funding

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