Himanshu Kumar - the king of crowd-funding

ANGLEPaisa, an enterprise that specialises in crowd funding, started its operations in July 2010 in collaboration with counterparts from the US and local investors, by working on projects in the real estate sector and websites. Later, it expanded its operations to reach out to a larger pool of investors and the public at large, for both ideas and funds.Today, the company can proudly say that it has been instrumental in the crafting of several fund-raising success stories for both organizations and start-ups, which have now developed into full-fledged businesses.

Its founder, Himanshu Kumar, a Chartered Accountant by profession, has helped establish several German, Canadian and US-based companies in India and his clientele includes leading financial services companies, media houses and IT majors. As an expert in International Financial Reporting Standards, US GAAP, etc.,Himanshu provides support to many transnational companies expanding or running their businesses in India.

It is his mission to transform the business world by giving entrepreneurs a platform that enables them to leverage their base of supporters, which could comprise friends, family, etc. and raise collective funds/capital. He also seeks out potential investors and aims to create a fresh pool of funds while advocating and mentoring many new flourishing companies. It is his firm belief that his company can add value to start-ups in their growth story.

Firm Focus
Hailing from Chapra, Bihar, Himanshu is the son of an advocate, who has been a major inspiration in his life. Very early in life, he learned from his father to be focused in whatever he did.After securing his basic education, in August 2003,he left his home town and moved Delhi to become a Chartered Accountant. After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in November 2009,he set up his private practice in Delhi under the firm name of Himanshu Kumar & Associates.

Start-up Supporters
Today, ANGLEPaisa acts as a bridge between start-ups and investors, by providing the much needed early-stage funding with the ‘ANGLEPaisa Ecosystem’, to help businesses see the light of day and set their own path. It is a platform that allows start-ups to raise equity investments from friends, family, community, independent investors and the public at large, through its website, which he calls ‘micro-investors’.


With the support of other professionals and experts in his firm, who have also garnered extensive experience in the fields of business management, technology, early stage finance, compliance and regulation and corporate transactions, Himanshuacts as a legal partner to start-ups, validating and supporting other investors and helping companies to raise future funds for their businesses. Apart from this, he also helpsstart-ups leverage their existing base of supporters.

Himanshu’s advice to entrepreneurs seeking funding is, “If your idea is unique and innovative then be sure that we a are nation of more than 1.25 billion who has an opportunity to invest in you through ANGLEPaisa and be sure that the funding will no longer be a constrain.”

Modus operandi  
It all begins when a start-up approaches ANGLEPaisa and showcases his business idea or story, strategy and the quantum of investment he expects to raise in exchange for the equity on offer to the target market. Using videos, photos, etc., an entrepreneur can convey his business plan to the team at ANGLEPaisa who then study and evaluate it to ensure that the campaign is fair, clear and not misleading for investors. Once all is clear and as per the procedures followed in-house, the campaign goes live and investors can study the proposal, evaluate it and finally, make the decision to invest. ANGLEPaisa only charges its fee once the project becomes a reality and is successful. The fee charged is between 3 % and 6%, depending upon the nature of the project, the quantum of investment required and the dilution of stake, etc.

Destination of Choice
In the year 2015, ANGLEPaisa facilitated investments in a start-up named ‘Hello-Tax App’, an application which is now available on IOS, Android and Windows and enables the user to file hassle free income tax return in only 3 steps, within 3-5 minutes. The company put together the funding for this start-up with the help of micro-investors who were available on the ANGLEPaisa platform. Today, Hello-Tax App, has gained traction across the nation and is highlighted by major newspapers in India.

Over the years, ANGLEPaisa has become a destination of choice for investors and fund seekers due to:
• Continuous funding: The relationship between fund seekers and fund providers is not a one-time activity at ANGLEPaisa. It is about fostering a long lasting relationship that can be relied upon for fund requirements in the future too. Raising funds through other means for existing businesses could be a complex and a long drawn procedure due to various procedural constraints. ANGLEPaisa pre-empts these obstacles and ensures the availability of funds on a continuous basis for business ideas and execution at ease.
• Strong base of micro-investors: ANGLEPaisa has a strong base of micro-investors from different walks of life, with varied business interests and a proven track record of putting business ideas into application and running successful enterprises. “Such benchmark of successful investor speaks volumefor the credibility of investment and crowd-funding that flows through the company. We also provide a regulated platform for investing money with the advantage of sharing risks and rewards,” explains Himanshu.

Looking ahead
ANGLEPaisa caters to micro-investors like IT professional, KPO, BPO, etc., and those looking to invest in start-ups. Such investors have an appetite for risk and the potential to gain more than they can from other contemporary sources of investment. The World Bank has estimated that crowd-funding will reach a figure of $90 billion by 2020. Within this, equity crowd-funding, the newest category of crowd-funding which is gaining momentum, is expected to reach $36 billion by 2020 and surpass venture capital as the leading source of start-up funding,according to Forbes. “I believe that the Indian economy is on the fast track and the Modi government is taking a number of initiativesto encourage start-ups and crowd funding. So, we foresee a lot of scope…” declares Himanshu. “We look forward to ANGLEPaisa becoming one of the top online funding platforms in India, taking into account the existing gap in the demand and supply of fund requirement. More importantly, ANGLEPaisa Ecosystem will emerge as a strong one-stop-solution for all the needs of a start-up.”

(This is a sponsored feature.)