Hi All,
I have heard speakers, panelists and entrepreneurs saying lack of angel financing as a major gap in the Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem. At Canaan, we have always tried best to participate in the start up ecosystem. This year, we are contemplating to initiate a dialogue with angel investors in a more systematic manner. In this regard, I would like to reach out to angel investors on this forum for suggestions on the nature and form of this dialogue.
I would also love to hear challenges faced by angel investors while making investment decisions or working with companies. They can be in areas of deal sourcing, regulatory visibility, network in corporate groups, working with the companies after investment etc.
I would also request start ups to send me names of their own angel investors with contact address and I would reach out to them individually. Keep viewing this forum for more on this and you can write me at mukul.singhal@gmail.com
Regards,
Mukul
If these economic jolts of last few weeks are called recession; I am pretty amused by it.
- Pleasantly amused by my all brokers (companies like ICICI Direct, Kotak) sending me mailers explaining different plans and simple logic behind them. None of them cared a quarter back. Last year it was a “take it or leave it” attitude.
- Pleasantly surprised that companies are talking about online, mobile, low cost models, leveraging technology etc etc. A quarter back, everybody was in a land grab mode - open as many outlets as possible, hire as many people as possible
- Pleasantly surprised when I went to my school back at ISB. Students’ expectations seem to be with rest of the world. An year back - everybody was dreaming for a Cr job
I think two main +ive developments have happened:
1.) Businesses are willing to spend time with their customers. There is a thought of “Customer Retention”.
2.) Cost of doing the business - from real estate cost, talent cost etc has come down.
Overall, I think lot of arrogance, which comes with growth have moderated. I understand that a recession also brings lot of pain (I lost my entire savings of last year) but I think it’s necessary to set things right for further growth. Thoughts? Comments?
-Mukul
I am happy to share that we have led an investment round of $6MN in UnitedLex with Helion. UnitedLex is a legal consulting and outsourcing firm. Sahad has covered some numbers on broad KPO market in his posts.
Since last 12-18 months, we came across many companies in the broad KPO market - Legal Outsourcing, Financial Analytics, Market Research etc. We believe that ability to scale and sustain growth will become a key success factor in the KPO space. While on sales side, one needs a good sales engine which can close deals in the competitive and fragmented US market. W.r.t delivery, you need ability to drive efficiency by bringing more and more processes on a technology platform. UnitedLex has been able to excel both on sales and delivery front and we hope to help build this into a big business.
-Mukul
Couple of days back; I posted about P2P lending and its India Feasibility - got mixed reponse from readers. I thought to bounce some more facts/findings from Deutsche Bank Research Report.
Interesting to note:
1.) Less default rate for borrowers who are member of some group (remember SHG of Indian MFI industry)
2.) At present; lenders choosing only low risk borrowers with credit rating AA. High risk borrowers still untapped
3.) Competition among P2P platforms has resulted in lazor thin margins for low risk borrowers.
So mix reactions. Check out some of the companies and their distributed amount. Would love to hear futher thoughts on the report.
Regards
Mukul
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