DFAN And Solis Capital To Co-Invest INR 100 Cr In Early Stage Startups

Digital Futurists Angels Network (DFAN) is getting into a partnership with boutique investment banking firm Solis Capital and Ventures. 

They plan to co-invest and deploy a corpus of INR 100 Cr over the next four years to invest in early-stage startups, while also providing them with mentorships, advisory services and help with business development.

DFAN is a global sector-agnostic angel network with a focus on technology-led startups in the B2B, B2B2C and B2G segments. Headquartered in Gurugram, DFAN is supported by investors and collaborators from the fields of AI, blockchain, IoT, Industry 4.0, Robotics etc. 

On the other hand, Solis Capital and Ventures is a boutique investment banking firm that offers advisory services for business restructuring, portfolio management, and mergers and acquisitions. 

“In pursuit of aggressive growth, we are not diluting the quality of the value we offer our investor network, along with giving our members opportunities to earn and learn. This corpus that Solis brings will further strengthen our mission to add value to our ecosystem and enhance our outreach to worthy startups,” said Mohit Arora, cofounder, director and CFO of DFAN.

The startup ecosystem has been riding on the waves of an impressive bull run marked by successful initial public offerings (IPOs) and unicorn valuations. More than $39 Bn has been invested in Indian startups last year alone, marking a 225% increase from the previous year. 

According to Inc42 analysis, in 2021, about $6.2 Bn was raised by 62 funds across categories (VC, Debt, CVC, Micro VCs) to back the rising Indian startup economy. Of these 62 funds, nine are Corporate Venture Capital funds (or CVCs) and 12 are Micro VCs. 

“The success rate of DFAN’s investments is poised to be higher than other angel networks and hence am happy for SCV to join hands with DFAN and further their investments in technology start-ups including the growing space of Real-tech. With this MoU we are declaring our plan to co-invest and deploy this corpus of 100 Crores (INR) over the next four years,” said Sachin Manchanda, founder and director of Solis Capital and Ventures.

Last week, Global angel network firm Agility Ventures had launched an INR 450 Cr ($60 Mn) angel fund after receiving approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI). 

Here’s a read telling you about the venture capital funds raised for Indian startups in 2021. We have put together a complete list and breakdown of all the new funds being introduced over the last year which you can find here.