In 2013 when LetsVenture was founded, angel investors still followed traditional, offline, time-consuming ways to discover deals. Who would have imagined angels syndicating deals online? Fast forward to 2015 and we at LetsVenture have been able to do just that - disrupt the angel investing space in a way unimaginable. Here’s how...
Angel investing in India has seen a huge surge and continues to evolve; thanks to the booming startup ecosystem in the country. However, the rapidly growing ecosystem faces a unique challenge of Discovery and Access. As Angels continue to spend a lot of time digging up hidden gems, fledgling startups vying for investors’ attention are finding it harder to reach out to Angels. Translating a “handshake deal” into an actual transaction too is a tedious task, given the processes and paperwork involved. No wonder then, that a need to effectively match-make and systematically syndicate deals is bigger than ever before.
In 2013 when LetsVenture was founded, angel investors still followed traditional, offline, time-consuming ways to discover deals. Who would have imagined angels syndicating deals online? Fast forward to 2015 and we at LetsVenture have been able to do just that - disrupt the angel investing space in a way unimaginable until a couple of years ago. We have successfully become India’s most trustworthy, tech-enabled marketplace for investors and startups. We are committed to adding significant value and bringing more ease and efficiency to the fundraising process for both startups and investors. Here’s how.
Effective Discovery.
We have 6900+ startups and 1400+ investors on our platform, focussing on various sectors, across geographies. Our platform is very easy to navigate, which makes discovery easier. This was also a key feedback we received during our NPS survey. Our platform allows for investors and startups to communicate with each other online. As an investor, you are able to follow other investors and startups and discover what’s happening in specific sectors.
Curated Startups.
In 2015, of the 512+ angel deals (<$1.5mn), 250 deals saw fundraising from institutional investors. We did some analysis and found that 130 of these 250 startups had their profiles on LetsVenture.
Again, a great validation of the quality of the startups we have on our platform. We continue to curate promising startups and identify them early in the cycle to bring them to investors. We play a key role in an investor’s roadmap to investing. We develop articulate investment theses, that help investors make informed investment decisions.
Predictability on Commitment/ Closure.
The various personas of investors on our platform adds credibility and also helps us bring quality deals onboard. These investors include traditional, experienced investors as well as marquee, new-age entrepreneur-turned-investors. We work with most of the large institutional investors and funds across the globe. We are leveraging this network and working towards making deal closure more predictable for startups and investors. This will help us close deals faster and further bring quality deals to investors.
Personalized Deals.
While investors can easily filter startups based on their criteria, we will soon make personalised startup feed available to them. Based on the sector preferences set by them, our machine learning algorithm will intelligently send them a daily, customised startup feed. This will make deal discovery easier and more personalized for every investor.
More Efficiency - Paperwork, due-diligence and transactions.
Paperwork during deal closure is a real pain point for investors as well as startups. Our objective is to address it and make the deal closure process smooth. We have a strong network of partners - that help with all paperwork, legal and financial due-diligence, taxation, etc. - and continue to strengthen it. We are also working with a partner to help make transactions on the platform as easy as a click of a button. This will include transactions from outside India. We are also working on an e-vault solution that could store and retrieve all deal documents securely. These initiatives will add significant value to startups and investors, esp. those who we work with outside India.
Sector Focus.
We are now working on sector-based reports to help you build your sector focus. Our first sector report around Fin-tech will soon be available on our website. Our analysts/research team continues to grow. Our research is based on quantitate and qualitative research, including leveraging our startup and investor network. We will continue to deliver sector-based research to help you build sector expertise.
Global Traction.
Our platform boasts of active investors from multiple geographies. we recently closed 60th deal and have raised $18mn. The fact that 30% of the total funds raised on LetsVenture came from foreign investors, is a great validation. We continue to see interest from global investors looking to invest in India and are working on initiatives that will make the process easier for them.
Offline Engagement.
We will continue to engage with you offline too. We are working on our 2016 events calendar and will soon publish on our website. Would love to see you participate in our community meet-ups. LetsIgnite is India’s biggest angel investing conference that brings together investors and curated startups.
Come register here!
You must already be receiving our funding digest/monthly digest emails. In case you haven't started receiving those, please let us know. These emails have some exciting deals and updates.
Commitment - to - Closure
To summarize, we continue to drive initiatives that make deal discovery, syndication and closure more personalized and efficient for you. It has been an exciting journey for us and we continue to learn. We help you Discover, Connect, Syndicate and are a connected pathway for investors and startups.
We would love to hear from you! For any suggestions, comments or feedback, please write to investors@letsventure.com or charu.sharma@letsventure.com
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