Angels To The Rescue: Here’re 30+ Angel Investors That Backed Indian Startups In Q1 2023

We will be adding more angels to this list, to nominate, write to us at [email protected]. Meanwhile, here’s another list capturing more angel investors backing Indian startups.

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After seeing an uptick in funding activity in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2022, compared to the previous two consecutive quarters (Q3 and Q2), the Indian startup ecosystem was expecting further relief entering into 2023. 

However, the funding winter refused to loosen its grip and Indian startups witnessed a 75% year-on-year decline in funding in the first three months of 2023.

According to Inc42’s ‘Indian Tech Startup Funding Report Q1 2023’, Indian startups could mop up only $3 Bn as against $12 Bn in Q1 2022. Further, the number of deals, too, nosedived 58% YoY to 213 in Q1 2023.

At a time when experts see factors like declining revenues of Indian startups, their mounting losses and founders’ inability to find strategies to scale impacting investor sentiment the most, as many as 32 angel investors showed confidence in homegrown startups in Q1 2023.

Some of the prominent angel investors like Dhruvil Sanghvi, Anand Kumar, Shashank Kumar, Dinesh Gulati, Ankit Kedia, Namita Thapar, Anupam Mittal, Kunal Shah, Aman Gupta, and Vineeta Singh, among others, came to assuage the Indian startup ecosystem and invested in as many as 147 startups in the first three months of 2023.

Further, it is pertinent to note here that the enterprisetech sector remained the top bet of angel investors in Q1 2023.  

While there is still hope for startup funding to revive in the quarters ahead, here’s the list of the top 32 angel investors that came to rescue Indian startups in what can be called the weakest funding quarter since the start of 2021. 

Note: Only active startup investors have been included in the list based on their deal participation in Q1 2023. We will be adding more angels to this list, to nominate, write to us at [email protected]. Meanwhile, here’s another list capturing more angel investors backing Indian startups.

1. Aman Gupta

The founder of D2C unicorn boAt, Aman Gupta, has become a renowned figure after appearing on the TV show Shark Tank. 

Over the years, he has actively supported Indian startups. Some of his prominent bets include Pharmallama, Medulance, Snitch, FastBeetle, Floryo and 10Club. In the first quarter of 2023, Gupta backed six Indian startups, according to Inc42. 

2. Amiya Pathak

Amiya Pathak of CoinBase mainly invests in early-stage startups and helps startup founders solve key industry problems. Some of his top investments include Refrens, PiggyRide, SprintAI and Pitstop.

Being an angel investor, he founded ZipDial, which was acquired by Twitter in 2015. He has also played a key role in building SaaS-based spend management solutions provider Ketera and online gaming portal Zapak. 

In the first quarter of 2023, he infused money into six Indian startups.

Download Q1 2023 Funding Report!

3. Anand Chandrasekaran

General Catalyst founder Anand Chandrasekaran is actively investing in India’s startup space. Most recently, he backed two homegrown startups in the first quarter of 2023. 

Earlier, he backed multiple startups such as NoBroker, DealShare, OneCard, Carta, Deel and PIPE. He has also worked with many companies like FarMart, Loop Health, Eeki Foods, Orange Health, OneCode, Triomics, and Magma.

4. Anand Kumar

The founder of legal services company Pier Counsel, Anand Kumar, has actively backed Indian startups. In the first quarter (Q1) of 2023, he backed as many as 12 ventures in sectors like.

Kumar, who has done his LLB and BA from the University of Delhi, has his investments in D2C startup Himshakti, food brand aggregator Big Bang Food Tech and fintech startup Olly Smart Credit Card. 

According to his Linkedin profile, he provides advisory services to startups, entrepreneurs, VCs, PEs and joint ventures. 

5. Anas Rahman Junaid 

Anas Rahman Junaid, the founder of Hurun India, has backed several startups over the years. In the first quarter of 2023, he invested in four Indian startups. 

He also has investments in ZOKO, Aisle, PointOne Capital and CrossPay.  

Junaid has worked with companies like Callapina Capital, Probitas Partners, SB Capital Partners, KPMG and Accenture. 

He has an MBA degree from University of Oxford.

6. Aniketh Jain

Fyno founder Aniketh Jain is an active angel investor and has backed three Indian startups in the first quarter of 2023.

Earlier, he founded Solutions Infini Technologies, which was rebranded to Kaleyra.

He completed his masters from IIM Ahmedabad and holds a bachelor’s degree from Sri Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain College.

7. Ankit Kedia

The founder of VC firm Capital A,  Ankit Kedia, is a second-generation entrepreneur. In the last three months, he backed as many as nine startups.  

At present, he is a managing partner of his family office, Manjushree Ventures. He is also the managing director of medtech startup Caremont. 

He holds an MBA degree from SP Jain Institute of Management & Research, and a BBA degree from Western Michigan University.

8. Anupam Mittal

People Group’s founder Anupam Mittal rose to fame after appearing on Shark Tank. In his capacity, he backed four startups in the first quarter of 2023. 

Currently, Mittal manages several businesses, including Shaadi.com and Mauj Mobile and has investments in over 50 startups – Express Stores, Gobbly, GoKwik,  Ola, Druva, Whatfix,  Animall, Agnikul, FarEye, NxtWave and Quizzez, just to name a few.

He has done his graduation from Boston College, Massachusetts. 

9. Arihant Patni

The managing director of Patni Financial Advisors, Arihant Patni holds expertise in diverse areas such as IT services and infrastructure, business development, marketing and wealth management.

He invests extensively in early-stage and growth-stage Indian startups and later becomes their board member. In Q1 2023, he invested in five startups.   

After he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, Patni completed his MBA from Babson College in Massachusetts, US.

10. Bikky Khosla

TradeIndia founder and CEO Bikky Khosla has backed multiple startups, such as Showroom B2B, Lal10 and Burgerama, throughout the years. In the last three months, he backed eight startups in total.

A former chairman of ASSOCHAM’s ecommerce and SME committees, Khosla holds a B.Com degree from Shaheed Bhagat Singh College (University of Delhi).

11. Dhruv Agarwala 

Dhruv Agarwala, the CEO of REA India, has supported various startups in India over the years. He has his investments in 1DigitalStack, Yellow Grass, Genius Teacher, The Money Club and Flexing It.

In Q1 2023, he infused capital into five startups in the country. 

Currently, he is also leading Housing.com, Proptiger.com and Makaan.com, the subsidiaries of REA India.

He completed graduation from Northwestern University, an MS degree from Stanford University and MBA from Harvard Business School.

Download Q1 2023 Funding Report!

12. Dhruvil Sanghvi

LogiNext’s founder Dhruvil Sanghvi has shown immense confidence in domestic startups. In Q1 2023, he participated in 10 investment deals. 

So far, he has backed many startups across sectors like cleantech, enterprisetech, fintech and SaaS.  

According to his LinkedIn profile, his investments have gone into supporting Manta Biofuel, Maven, Vested Finance, Xeno, WayFr, ACT Grants, Kift, Drink Monday, GoodGame1, and UrbanYogi, just to name a few.

He is a postgraduate in management information systems from Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania, US. 

13. Dinesh Gulati

IndiaMART’s COO Dinesh Gulati holds years of experience working in ecommerce, telecom, FMCG and media sectors. Interestingly, he has been part of various investment and M&A deals. 

In Q1 2023, he backed nine startups in his capacity, as per the Inc42 Q1 report.

He mainly helps companies throughout their lifecycle, right from ideation to scaling them into profitable ventures. 

He has previously worked with companies like Bharti Airtel, Etisalat, Reliance, The Indian Express and Eastman Kodak, according to his LinkedIn profile.

14. Harsh Shah

Harsh Shah is the founder of fashion ecommerce platform Fynd. Shah, who generally invests in business-to-business (B2B), business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) and business-to-consumer (B2C) tech-enabled startups, backed seven such startups in the first three months of 2023. 

Having founded Nova Global in 2009, Shah completed his BTech degree in metallurgical engineering and materials science from IIT Bombay. 

15. Jaideep S Mehta 

Jaideep S Mehta is an active angel investor and mentors B2B tech startups. Over the years, he has backed many startups like Fareye, Uniphore Systems, Clootrack, Skit, Mimyk, Celsius, Edmingle, Automatapi and eshipz. 

In the first quarter of 2023, he invested in four startups. 

According to his LinkedIn profile, he has exited four startups – Tenmarks.com, Publicvibe, Pipecandy and Tagbox. 

He has also worked with companies like Indian Angel Network, Mosaic Media, Fareye, IDC, Alpha Partners and Zensar Technologies.

16. Karthik Bhat

Force Ventures’ founder Karthik Bhat holds over 17 years of experience in investment research, private equity and business advisory. In the first quarter of 2023, he backed seven startups in his capacity. 

His investment firm Force Ventures backs seed, pre-series A and Series A stage startups. 

Bhat also leads the venture debt firm Ubiquity Capital, which he founded in 2017. 

A certified CA and CFA, he completed his graduation from the Indian School of Business (ISB).

17. Kashish Sharma

EquityList CEO Kashish Sharma has been actively investing in Indian startups for over four years now. In Q1 2023, he backed three domestic startups. 

It has previously backed startups such as Even Healthcare, OSlash, Kula.ai, Atmana, Chronicle, Kutumb, Pagarbook, StrangeMood.org, Mall91 and Oye Rickshaw. 

Sharma is currently leading a VC fund, Cloud Capital. Earlier, he worked with names like AngelList, SquadStack, Derailed Douchebaggery and The Meditube. 

He completed his graduation from Vellore Institute of Technology.

18. Kunal Khattar

Kunal Khattar, the founding partner of AdvantEdge, is an active angel investor. He backed three startups in the first quarter of 2023. 

He holds expertise in the startup ecosystem and in managing fundraising processes. Currently, he is a board observer of fintech startup NAKAD, EV fast-charging tech startup Exponent Energy and Chalo app. He is also on the board of Zingbus.

He earned his masters from Northwestern University and bachelor’s degree from the University of Delhi.

19. Kunal Shah

Over the years, CRED founder Kunal Shah has backed dozens of startups in India. In the first quarter of 2023, he invested in nine Indian startups. 

In 2022, he backed over 50 domestic startups, including Driffle, EekiFoods, and OSlash, among others. He also exited 11 startups such as Avail Finance, Flyrobe and DailyNinja.

Currently, he is an advisor to the board of Bennett and Coleman and AngelList. 

20. Kushal Bhagia

The founder of All In Capital, Kushal Bhagia, has backed over 100 pre-seed and seed-stage startups in India, according to his Linkedin profile.

Further, he has backed five startups so far in 2023. 

Notably, he is the former CEO of FirstCheque. He has also worked with UpGrad and Nayi Disha Studios. 

He completed his bachelors in mechanical engineering from BITS, Pilani.

Download Q1 2023 Funding Report!

21. Namita Thapar

Emcure Pharmaceuticals’ director Namita Thapar got immense prominence after becoming one of the sharks in the TV Show Shark Tank. 

In the first quarter of 2023, she participated in eight startup deals–Funngro, SoulUp, Medulance, Ubreathe, Padcare Labs, Snitch, JhaJi Store, and TagZ Foods, to name a few.

Of late, she has invested in ePharmacy when the startup secured an investment of INR 2 Cr from multiple investors on Shark Tank India.

She holds an MBA degree from the Fuqua School of Business and also, a certified CA from The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

22. Nitish Mittersain

Nazara founder Nitish Mittersain has been actively backing Indian startups for years. In the first quarter of 2023, it pumped funds into five startups, according to the Inc42 Q1 funding report. 

Besides, he backs 35 startups, including LifeChart, MoEving, Lysta, TradeX, Nojoto, and Rigi in 2022. 

At present, he is a founding angel at The Nudge Institute. He also served as a board member of MEF Mobile between 2013 and 2015, according to his LinkedIn profile.

23. Rahul Maroli

Rahul Maroli, the founder and CEO of Elevate Now, is an active angel investor and mentors early-stage startups. In Q1 2023, he invested in five Indian startups. 

He also has stakes in companies like PeeSafe, EdgeFx, Dibz, ShadiSaga, Coutloot, ASADEL Technologies, and Digiora & KakCho.

He has also founded the online learning platform Genius Inside. Maroli earlier worked with companies like Ola, Zee5 and LeasePlan India. 

He did his MBA from Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship and bachelors from St. Aloysius College.

24. Raveen Sastry

The founding partner of Multiply Ventures, Raveen Sastry, has supported several startups in India. In the first quarter of 2023, he invested in three domestic startups, according to the Inc42 Q1 funding report.

He also has his investments in Stoa, Lo! Foods, Fanspole, Cusmat, BitClass, Gramophone, Rapawalk, Walrus, and Locale.ai, among others.

So far, he has cofounded four companies – Myntra, NudgeSpot, hoopos.com and Babyoye. He has worked with companies like Zeta Global, Boomtrain, Xora, and IPTouch.

25. Salil Deshpande

Salil Deshpande, the founder of Uncorrelated Ventures, mainly invests in early-stage startups working in the fintech and enterprise segments. 

In the last two decades, he has backed more than 100 startups, including DynaTrace, MuleSoft, Buddy Media, Quantum Metric, SpringSource, Sysdig, MakerDAO, Compound Finance, Cosmos, Jambool, Dropcam, Tealium, Pipe, CoinDCX, Astranis, Astronomer, and Lending Club, among others. 

According to Inc42’s Q1 funding report, Deshpande invested in seven domestic startups in the first three months of 2023. 

He has done his graduation from Cornell University and earned masters from Stanford University. 

26. Shashank Kumar

The founder of Razorpay, Shashank Kumar, has been actively working as an angel investor for many years now. 

In the first three months of 2023, he invested in 10 startups. Last year, he participated in the  investment deals of Contlo, InPrime Finserv, NAKAD, BharatX, Hypd, and Turnip. 

With a BTech degree from IIT Roorkee, Kumar worked with Microsoft and SDS Labs before starting his venture.   

27. Shivam Prasad

The founder of Upsparks Shivam Prasad helps tech startups grow into successful enterprises and upscale in new markets as well as geographies. In Q1 2023, he invested in four Indian startups. 

He founded a CPaaS company Solutions, Infini, which was later acquired and rebranded into Kaleyra. 

He completed his MBA and bachelor’s degree from Sri Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain College.

28. Shrishti Sahu

Hustle Hard Ventures’ founder Shrishti Sahu has investments in as many as 30 startups. Of these, she pumped money into nine domestic startups in the first quarter of 2023. 

Earlier, Sahu told Inc42 that she mainly invests between INR 3 Lakh and INR 25 Lakh in homegrown startups.

At present, she is a managing partner and angel investor at Swadharma Source Ventures. She has worked with companies like Emoha Eldercare, Facebook, Lumis Partners, Aqaya Source Foundation, and Aqaya.

Sahu holds a masters degree from the University of Warwick.

29. Sujayath Ali

Sujayath Ali, the founder and COO of Bangladesh-based startup ShopUp, backed three domestic startups in Q1 2023. 

He also founded ecommerce company Voonik, which merged with ShopUp in 2019. After this, Ali and Navaneetha Krishnanva, the cofounder of Voonik, were elevated to the status of founders in ShopUp. 

Ali has worked with Amazon, Visa and iNautix Technologies. 

He has an MBA from the Indian School of Business and a bachelor’s degree from Mepco Schlenk Engineering College. 

30. Utsav Somani

AngelList India partner Utsav Somani has been an active angel investor for years. 

In his career so far, he has backed more than 40 startups, including Vetic, KoinX, Revise, Anar, GoKwik, Airblack, and Pepper Content.

Somani is currently a partner at micro-fund iSeed and VC firm Galaxy. He has also worked with Village Global, 0B1T Capital, iSeed SEA, and On Deck, according to his LinkedIn profile. 

In 2022, Somani invested in eight Indian startups, including GroMo, SuperShare, and Upswing Financial. 

In the first three months of 2023, he backed six Indian startups.

31. Vineeta Singh

SUGAR Cosmetics founder Vineeta Singh has become a popular figure in the startup ecosystem after she became a Shark on the TV show Shark Tank India. 

In the first quarter of 2023, she invested in four startups Zouk, Padcare Labs, JhaJi Store, and Snitch.

She is also the founder of a subscription-based beauty and grooming platform FAB BAG. 

32. Vinod Sood

Hughes Systique Corporation’s founder Vinod Sood is an advisor and mentor to Indian startups. He backed two startups in the first quarter of 2023.

He holds 38 years of experience in the hi-tech software industry. He is currently on board of  OYO, Alletec, Indepay, Greenscape, QNu, TryndBuy, Wardo, BookBySlot, Evueme, Calipso, Pesto, Eye-D, Saarthi, ReferHire, F5 and Yat.

He is also a member of TiE, All India Council For Technical Education, Lovely Professional University, SPJIMR and Shoolini University. 

Download Q1 2023 Funding Report!

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Note: Only active startup investors have been included in the list based on their deal participation in Q1 2023. We will be adding more angels to this list, to nominate, write to us at [email protected]. Meanwhile, here’s another list capturing more angel investors backing Indian startups.