For a startup in India, each time it graduates from one stage to another it has to discover new set of investors and advisors. This is because there is no single entity that can support a startup at every stage of its growth.

Enter Lead Angels.

i. Lead Angels Network

ii. Lead Advisory

iii. LA Management & Professional Services

Indian startups raised $12.68 billion in equity and $1.14 billion in debt in 2018, across 864 deals, surpassing 2017. Late-stage startups took the lion’s share and India welcomed 8 new ‘unicorns’. But, pre Series A deals dipped 20% in 2018 compared to 2017. This reiterates that fund raising remains a major challenge for early stage start-ups and more importantly there is a growing need for increased rigor in the process adopted to fund them. This increased rigor ensures the right ones get support early on and survive further to reach the state where later funding becomes less difficult. Founded by a team of three originally from IIT Bombay, in 2014, Lead Angels Network, is India’s first for profit angel network. It is known for its rigorous filtering process. No wonder, its portfolio companies like SuprDaily, Planet Superheroes, TinMen & Shopkirana among others, have created a trail of success by quickly raising investments or providing a 10X exit to investors. Other portfolio companies have shown remarkable resilience showing a higher survival rate than industry average. Lead Angels now has 130+ angel investors in its network across active chapters in Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru & Hyderabad. It has invested in 25+ start-ups in sectors as varied as from Indian snacks to SaaS. In a validation of its’ rigorous process of identifying the right start-ups, it has had 6 successful exits and up-rounds in under 3 years of operation. Lead Angels builds upon its strong relationships with premier institutions, incubators, accelerators and venture funds like TiE, IITs, NASSCOM, SINE, FIIT, CII, CIIE etc. It also has affiliate programs with regional angel networks and incubators to further improve its access to early-stage investment proposals and connecting the dots in the fragmented Indian startup ecosystem.

As a natural evolution of its vision to catalyze the early stage start-up ecosystem in India, Lead Angels is morphing into an end to end financial services provider for start-ups. Its Lead Advisory division helps start-ups to either get the next rounds of funding or to get acquired. Interestingly, unlike most established players, Lead Advisory assists fund raising early, right from US$ 1 million upwards. It has access to over 70+ funds from financial investors across India, Japan and China, helping startups/companies find the right partner. Lead Advisory has assisted Lead Angels and other angel & VC portfolio companies in raising US$15+ million date. LA Professional Services assists start-ups across compliance/governance requirements, reporting & review of systems among others.

Lead Angels is run by a mix of experience & youth, supported by savvy investors and a network of relationships and partnerships in the Indian startup ecosystem. Chiranjeev Anand, who looks after Lead Angels Network is just 27 years old and brings with him a mix of experience across corporate & early stage investments, encompassing roles from operations, networking to strategy. Rajeev Ranka, who heads Lead Advisory, is all of 27 years old and brings with him an uncanny understanding and deep insights of the ecosystem along with a formidable network. Suman Sengupta, who heads the LA Management & Professional Services is an Economics graduate with 25 years of finance, strategic planning & treasury experience and a certified CA. Sushanto Mitra, the Founder & CEO of Lead Angels, brings with him a wealth of diverse experience of over 20 years in the startup eco-system.