Angel investors spread their wings in small cities

GONE ARE THE days when angel investors were restricted to metro and tier-I cities.

- AYANTI BERA

With the advancements in technology, especially the ones introduced during the pandemic, investors in tier II and III cities got the much-needed push to enter the startup ecosystem.Angel investor networks have seen a surge in members from smaller cities like Ahmedabad, Indore, Dehradun, Rajkot, Coimbatore, Surat and Nagpur.

Increasing understanding of the startup ecosystem and larger risk appetite for private asset classes have also made angel networks such as We Founder Circle, Faad Network, JITO Angel Network and Inflection Point Ventures, among others, attractive to investors in smaller towns and cities.

Mumbai-based We Founder Circle said it has added nearly 4,000 investors in the last 12 months, of which about 2,500 are from tier II and III cities. Prior to 2020, hardly 1015% of the new investors came from these cities, Neeraj Tyagi, co-founder and CEO,We Founder Circle, told FE.