Angel Investors to Dedicate Office Hours in Bangalore for First Time Entrepreneurs

This could be one way of resolving the problem that startups face as their attempts to reach angels fail due to lack of response from them, or when angels are inundated by requests from startups and are unsure whom to give their money to.

As a first step, from January 2013 five Indian Angel Network (IAN) investors — Venkat Raju, Manav Garg, Nagaraj Prakasam, Sharad Sharma, and Sundi Natrajan will hold monthly office hours in two locations — the Microsoft office at Lavelle Road and Eka Software offices in Outer Ring Road in Bangalore. Anil Joshi from Mumbai Angels also committed to hold office hours in both Mumbai and Bangalore.

Every month 4 entrepreneurs will be selected for one session of 30 minutes per entrepreneur based on first-come-first-serve basis every month. Only one session per entrepreneur per year will be allowed. Once the investors have decided whom to give their money to, these investors will write a quick note to tell more about why they decided to invest. This will tell about what their thesis was, the trends they were betting on and other relevant details. These investors will also share their investment thesis for 2013 and the sectors or areas they have expertise in or are passionate about. For example, Sharad Sharma is an expert in Internet and advertising, whereas Sundi Natrajan is passionate about education.

Mukund Mohan is also looking for volunteers to streamline this effort and can be reached at [email protected]

image credit: mubany