AngelList launches India-dedicated fund 'The Collective'

A year after its started syndicates program in India, Silicon Valley-based AngelList has launched India dedicated fund called The Collective.

The fund will have backing from entrepreneurs, who have carved their own niche, and experienced investors including Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, Avnish Bajaj (Matrix Partners India), Tarun Davda, Vikram Vaidyanathan, Navroz Udwadia (Falcon Edge Capital), Rahul Mehta (DST Global) and funds like Kalaari Capital, FJ Labs, and Beenext among others.

It is a venture fund designed to bring Indian startups and syndicate leads closer. The exact size of the fund is not disclosed yet. Though, The Collective will back 60-80 companies over the next one-and-half-year.

"We are not disclosing the fund size at the moment, but can safely state that it’s ready to start investing immediately," said Utsav Somani to Entrackr.

The Collective will invest up to $150,000 per deal into syndicates led by angels and VCs, as per AngelList India. The Indian service is open only to accredited investors.

The Collective claims to provide startups founders, who raise from an AngelList India syndicate with both the capital for immediate growth as well as access to some of the best names in the venture, all within a single cheque.

AngelList through this fund aims to make Indian startups more noticeable to the best names in the venture industry.

The Collective investment committee management will be handled by Utsav Somani, an angel investor and now a partner with AngelList to lead the Indian effort, former 500 Startups India partner Pankaj Jain and Nipun Mehra, who has worked with Sequoia Capital.

Since the launch of AngelList India Syndicates, it has invested about $5 million across more than 50 startups.

In India, AngelList has invested in startups like Elemential, BharatPe, Yulu, Open, Nymble, HalaPlay, Jai Kisan and Lean Agri and many more. It has also invested in well-known funds including Sequoia Capital India, Matrix Partners India, Omidyar Network, Blume Ventures, and Beenext.