Dhianu Das and Prashant Narang are trying to rewrite the narrative of angel investing in India. Can they script an enduring story?
Prashant Narang (left) and Dhianu Das, cofounders, Agility Ventures
“Have all angels descended on the earth,” I asked ‘angel guardians’ Dhianu Das and Prashant Narang, trying to satiate my curiosity. “Are heavens deserted? Is there anybody left up there?” The duo smiled. “There is not much happening over there. It’s not exciting,” reckons Das, an entrepreneur-turned-investor based out of Gurugram. His partner shares the secret behind the world, and India in particular, getting crowded with angels. “They have all come to make money,” says Narang, a chartered accountant who was startled by eye-popping returns made by angel investors by putting money in one of the riskiest asset class of investment.
Meanwhile in Varanasi, Hemant Agarwal was hooked to the startup revolution brewing in India, and his home state Uttar Pradesh. During his interaciotn with students at the Atal Incubation Centre, Banaras Hindu University, last November, Piyush Goyal, union minister for commerce and industry, reportedly claimed that 7,000 startups were registered from across Uttar Pradesh, and over 236 of them were from the holy city of Varanasi.
Agarwal spotted an unexplored opportunity. He wanted to grab a meaty slice of action. “I wanted to invest in startups, and the best way to do so was to turn angel,” says the rice trader from Varanasi who has been actively trading in stocks for over a decade. “I knew it’s risky, but that’s the name of the game,” says the 45-year-old, who has started investing in startups through angel investing platforms over the last two years.
Around 1,100 kilometres from Varanasi, a real estate dealer in Chandigarh explains why startup is the new currency for him. And the biggest reason—and this also happens to be the weirdest one—is snob value. “One of my friends invested in a startup which is a soonicorn,” says Vikrant Chaddha, who runs a real estate consultancy. Somebody who has been in the realty business for three decades, Chaddha now finds his first love boring. “The market has been muted for years. There is no excitement,” he reckons. And add to it, he underlines, the return is delayed. “Angel is instant gratification,” he says. ”You don’t have to wait for years,” he adds. But what if the bets doesn’t pay off? After all, over 90 percent startups fail. Chaddha flips the question. “What if I happen to be the lucky one who hits the jackpot with the remaining 10 percent,” he laughs. The builder has already seen enough financial busts to be scared of not getting returns from startups. India, he says, is in the midst of a strong startup boom. “The story won’t go bust,” he says.