India's angel, Inventus, tapping talent, mkts & aspirations

Entrepreneurs, Steve Jobs called them the crazy ones. Wonder what he would call the men and women who bet on them, believe in their ideas, their passion, their tenacity, their courage and their vision. What do you call the men and women who put their money where their mouth is and bet on someone else's enterprise? They are called- India's Angels.

India's tryst with liberalisation began more than two decades ago, but its entrepreneurial ecosystem is far from adequate. Angel investing is just about beginning in India and angel's fear to tread mostly because of legal constraints, which make both investing and exits cumbersome. But we are beginning to see winds of change.

The last year, 2012, was without a doubt the most difficult year the Indian economy has seen in a decade. The world’s second fastest growing economy was let down by a weak political class and the India story quickly began to unravel. While cautious foreign investors pulled back, large domestic conglomerates threatened to look outside. In the midst of gloom and doom there was a small glimmer of hope. It is now, the perfect timing to bring this small but significant community of investors together to find a method in their madness, encourage and inspire others and find hope where there is despair.

In this edition of the show, meet team of equals at Inventus Capital Partners. Investing in India since 1993, the early stage investment firm, Inventus Capital Partners focuses on tech based start ups across sectors.

With an average ticket size of a USD 1 million to USD 2 million in the first round of funding, Inventus claims to have created over USD 30 billion in aggregate wealth and market value for entrepreneur founders and shareholders. One the most active Venture capital (VC) firms in 2012, it invested in four new companies, three follow-on rounds and raised USD 70.3 million for its second firm. 

India's angel, Inventus Capital wants to create great companies investing in Indian talent, markets and aspiration.

Kanwal Rekhi, serial entrepreneur, managing director, Inventus Capital Partners and co-founder, TiE says, "An entrepreneur has to be above all the salespersons. An entrepreneur who is not able to sell will not survive for very long."

"In 2001 we would quite often see entrepreneurs saying, I think I have this great idea, will you fund me then I will leave my job. I think those things have gone. People are coming out, willing to tale the risk and get started," adds Samir Kumar, MD, Inventus (India) Advisors.

Parag Dhol, MD, Inventus (India) Advisors says, "I do not have a natural tendency to interfere. As I like to tell my entrepreneurs, 80 percent of the time I don't think the battle is worth fighting."

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