India’s first telecom incubator Startup Village at Kalamassery here has got a shot in the arm with market regulator SEBI giving the nod to Startup Village angel fund to the tune of USD 10 million, which could go up to USD 20 million using the greenshoe option (option for over-allotment).
A media release in this regard said the approval for the angel fund, which would tackle resource crunch for startups across the country, came by way of a SEBI notification on April 23.
The focus area of the fund would be telecom/internet and investment would begin once a corpus of USD 2 million was achieved, the release said. International firm KPMG is advisor and ILFS (Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Limited) is trustee of the fund.
“The angel fund will be investing not only in the most promising startups located in Startup Village but also in similar enterprises across the country. We are looking to broad-base the investor profile with a large set of angel investors, many of whom might be first-time angel investors in India,” Startup Village Chairman Sanjay Vijayakumar said.
Mr. Vijayakumar, also the cofounder of MobME, said the fund would be investing between USD 20,000 USD and 250,000 in the early stage category. High Net-worth Individuals (HNI) who would want to be part of the fund may contact Mr. Vijayakumar at sanjay@mobme.in.
