Indian Angel Network Goes International

Thursday June 21, 2012 , 2 min Read

Indian Angel Network (IAN), the largest Angel Investor Network in Asia is the first angel network in India to spread its initiative internationally. While it has overseas based investors investing actively in IAN companies and investee companies based overseas, IAN has for the first time led an international partnership to invest and mentor entrepreneurs overseas. In a concerted effort, IAN co founded “Venture Engine” business plan contest in Sri Lanka – one of the first ever opportunities for entrepreneurs to realize their entrepreneurial dreams. Venture Engine co founded by Blue Ocean Ventures, Sri Lanka’s first early stage Venture Capital Fund, attracted 70 plans and 9 companies came out at the top and IAN looks at investing in 5 companies. The companies went through a rigorous short listing process and several intense mentoring sessions.

Ms. Padmaja Ruparel, President, Indian Angel Network said, “Venture Engine is a unique model as it helps ignite the entrepreneurial engine in Sri Lanka which will only help drive the economic growth in the region. At IAN, we are very excited to see unique propositions with very robust plans and high quality teams with high growth potential and IAN will not only help them open Indian markets, but world markets as well through its large global networks.”

Venture Engine platform is a sustainable platform providing post investment support as well. The Sri Lankan companies will now be able to access the large Indian market and grow their companies at a much faster pace. "We created Blue Ocean Ventures to provide mentoring and seed funding to entrepreneurs who want to launch and accelerate their businesses to the next level. We are excited about our partnership with the Indian Angel Network, and are thrilled with the results of Venture Engine 2012 which showcased the enormous potential for entrepreneurship in Sri Lanka. The guidance and support of the IAN played a crucial role in the success of the event and we look forward to even greater success next year", said Prajeeth Balasubramanium, Co-Founder & Managing Director, Blue Ocean Ventures.

Indian Angel Network seeks to ignite entrepreneurship, innovation and angel investing in different geographies. IAN’s investment in Sri Lanka marks another level of maturity in the angel investing process in India and will bring the Angel Networks from India and Sri Lanka closer to grow this cross border investment.

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