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founder, AngelList India and iSeed
age: 33
Somani, who is responsible for bringing the U.S.-based startup funding platform, AngelList, to India, beams with pride when asked to speak about his personal investments. A prolific angel investor, his portfolio includes BharatPe, Sugar Cosmetics, Jupiter, Testbook, and Mosaic Wellness. In 2019, AngelList was among the most active seed investors in India, while its first institutional fund—The Collective—was backed by marquee names such as Accel Partners India, Matrix Partners India, DST Global, Kalaari Capital, and others. Last year, during the pandemic, he launched a micro venture capital fund called iSeed, which was backed by a clutch of angel investors, venture fund managers, and entrepreneurs. The roster included AngelList co-founders Naval Ravikant and Babak Nivi; Spearhead founder and AngelList partner Jake Zeller; and senior executives at DST Global, Matrix Partners India, and Xiaomi. iSeed’s plan was to invest in 30 early-stage Indian technology startups at an average ticket size of $150,000. This year, Somani launched iSeed II, a $15-million micro fund, to back early-stage tech startups in India. The pandemic has led to a massive push in technology adoption across businesses. Somani believes this trend will continue, and will influence his future investments.
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