Ravindra Sanna Reddy
Founder and Managing Director of Sri City
Mr. Reddy is known as the founder of Sri City, a business zone in Andhra Pradesh, close to the Tamil Nadu border, that hosts factories of companies such as Isuzu, Cadbury, PepsiCo, Kellogg’s and many others. He now wears another hat – as an angel investor – having joined Chennai Angel Network five months back. “I am looking at both investing as well as mentoring new start-ups,” said Mr. Reddy, who has already invested in two firms – Syona Cosmetics and Cloud Cherry.
Arun Kumar
Founder and MD of Casa Grande Private Limited
Mr. Kumar’s interest in angel investing comes from his experience of being an entrepreneur in the real estate space. He joined Chennai Angels earlier this year. “Start-up is going to be a big game in the coming decade,” said Mr. Kumar, who is excited with online and retail formats. “The whole world is evolving online in a big way and I wanted to contribute something.” He has already made his first investment – as a lead investor in Syona Cosmetics.
Prative Chend
CEO of CARE Group of Institutions
Coming back to India after staying in the US for ten years, Mr. Chend wanted to take the angel investing route to help individuals grow and, through them, the community too. Mr. Chend, who recently joined the Madurai-based Native Angels, wants to focus on rural ventures. “The metros anyway have bigger investors whom they can bank on,” he said. He hasn’t yet invested in any firm but is mentoring two youngsters.
C.K. Ranganathan
Founder Chairman of CavinKare
Mr. Ranganathan, whose venture CavinKare a few decades back popularised the sale of shampoo in sachets, joined the Chennai Angels Network four months back. CKR, as he is fondly called in the business circles, isn’t new to the start-up world. He has been encouraging small and tiny entrepreneurs through the Chinnikrishnan Innovation Award, which he set up in memory of his father R. Chinnikrishnan. He is evaluating a few start-ups but is yet to make his first investment.
