If you haven’t watched Shark Tank India and haven’t thought about investing your money in a startup, then you must be living in a lion’s den. But you know that you and I know don’t have crores to invest and throw money here and there and hope that one of them turns unicorns and milk the profit. In this post, I will share ways to invest in popular startups in India as retail investors. If you are broke like me but still want to invest in startups, hang on till the last in this post so that we will share this journey together.
What is an angel investor?
I am not going to give you the textbook definition everyone is giving all over the internet. An angel investor is someone who is willing to bet some money on a business just starting and willing to put time and resources into the advice and provide feedback on that startup knowing full and well that more than 90% of the startups fail.
In return, they hope that one or two of the startups they have invested in turn out a unicorn and make a huge profit when it is listed on market or when the angel investor sells his or her share. The profit on this far outweighs the other 90% failed ones.
What differentiates angel investors from other investors?
Angel investors, unlike other investors, generally have a lot of money to waste around. But, not only money, they believe that the company will be a very valuable company in the future, and with him/her getting a stake in the company will have the power to suggest and influence the decision-making process of the company which the angel investor genuinely believes that it will be helpful for the company too.
As a retail investor, how can you be an angel investor?
Yes, you and I are just very small investors and when we watch shark tank, we all want to invest in some of those startups. However, you just can’t go and put 50K or 1L and tell them that you are investing in that company.
Before the internet era and just before a year or two, it was impossible to be an angel investor. However, you can invest in startups just like you invest in TradeCred or Grip Invest. It has become as easy as buying a stock in the stock market. Obviously, there are a lot of differences.
You can use the TykeInvest to invest in the upcoming startups. We will talk about Tyke later on. Now let’s see the reality and difference between the millionaire, billionaire angel investors, and retail angel investors.
Money
Yes, it is the biggest difference. You and I have pennies while Sharks have millions and millions of money. So, what does this mean, everyone knows it? The difference is that they have a lot of room to play with their money and make more mistakes to learn more.
While you have no room to play and you hope that the one startup you are investing be successful and bring you rains of money. This means you also won’t have any room to learn how to invest in startups. This means you will take a longer time to learn and make the right investments as compared to the sharks.
A retail investor’s value is less as compared to Sharks in a startup.
Yes, the sharks have vast experience ranging from connections to sales, and marketing and they also have a complete team. So, you can’t compete with them and you have to live with it.
This also means they will choose a business that suits them and those that the Sharks can provide values while investing. You notice in the Shark Tank that they don’t just buy a stake but make commitments they will provide.
This also means, that as a retail angel investor, you will get less leverage while investing in any startup due to a lack of money and value provided by you.
You as a retail angel investor are more of a burden than a valuable angel investor.
As I said earlier, the value the Sharks and other high-net-worth investors bring in a startup is priceless as compared to the stakes they are claiming. Most retail angel investors are nothing but a source of funds.
So, any startup that can raise money from VCs will raise in that way unless they have a wonderful business and only need cash. Even with this, there are other ways to raise cash without liquidating their stake in the company like the Grip Invest and TradeCred.
We will come to the point: How to invest in startups as an angel investor with little money, but let’s discuss the risks and other factors you should consider before investing in any startups.
What are the risks of investing in startups as a retail angel investor?
The general risks of investing in startups are a 90% failure rate, hard to sell the stakes, quick and drastic changes, little information outside, etc. On top of this retail investors have more problems. Let’s see what risks you will be facing while investing in any startups.
As a retail investor, you have inside information.
Yes, no matter what the institutional investors and big sharks say, they have vast connections both inside and outside, and they know things you will never know. All the information you will get is the one you are provided by the startup company.
This automatically puts you at a disadvantage. So, you have to be extra careful while investing in any startup as a retail angel investor.
You will get less stake as compared to the Sharks.
As I have mentioned above, you as a retail angel investor bring a lesser value to the company as compared to Sharks. So, it is natural that the startup will give less stake in their company for the same amount of money.
This means less return as compared to the big Sharks in the sea. However, you are never going to be in a level playing field. Having said that you should decide your choice and remember the world is not fair and there will never will a level playing field.
Extra hard to sell your stake.
Even big sharks have a hard time selling their stakes in a startup in case they want to walk away. If they are having problems, you can imagine the problems as a retail angel investor.
You can say that it is impossible to sell your stake in any startup as a retail angel investor unless the company decides to buy back or it is listed on the stock exchanges. This means that a startup has to be a success once and 90% of startups fail.
The risk is significantly higher as a retail investor than the Sharks.
Yes, 10,20,50 Lakhs even crores are nothing to the Sharks but even 10K is a big amount for a retail investor like you and me. Lakhs are pennies for them while thousands are lakhs for you. They have many more to invest more while you only have a certain try. The choice is limited for you so choose wisely.
The grass is greener on the other side.
Yes, when investing in the stock market was expensive and was limited to big guys, we all thought if and only if the fees are low, we can join the club and become a crorepati. Once, Apps like Zerodha, Groww, Upstox are out, now everyone is searching for angel investing.
It is a basic human instinct to search for more. But the reality is that, as retail investors, we haven’t scratched the surface of investing in the stock market and we are already investing in startups.
How to invest in Indian startups as a retail angel investor?
Enough of risks and other information, let’s dive into how to invest in startups as a retail investor in India just like the Sharks. There is a startup called TykeInvest, that provides you the ability to invest in Indian startups for retail investors as low as Rs. 5000.
Tyke is a super simple website where you can sign up and complete the KYC process online. Once it is done, you will be able to invest in a list of startups available currently as a form of angel investor.
The signing-up process is really simple. Just click on the signup or login, enter your email, verify it, and enter your basic details. Once it is done, you need to verify and complete your KYC.
To complete the KYC, you will need to enter your bank details, and verify your mobile number and PAN Card details. It is almost instant and completely online. You can see the details in the photo detail on where to enter the details.
Select startups and deals on Tyke Invest.
Once you complete the KYC process, you can access to the deals section and click on any of the currently active deals to get more details about the business, company details, money, etc.
Once you click on any deal, you will be presented with every detail about the business. You will also know about the percentage of funds raised and a number of days it will end.
If you keep scrolling, you will find four tabs – Pitch, FAQ, Deal Terms, and People. You can click on each tab and learn as much information as you want.
Make sure you study every detail as much as you can. Once you decide that you can invest in a startup, click on the invest button.
Once you click the invest button, a pop-up will appear with options on how much to invest and the fees you need to pay. Suppose, you want to invest Rs. 5000 in the Tyke Invest, you will need to pay Rs. 118 as fees in total.
You can pay online and offline. I don’t know about offline but for online payment on Tyke Invest, you can pay just like any other payment option.
What happens once you invested in a TykeInvest startup?
Once you complete your investment, the company will verify and sign contracts on both sides. Once everything is done, you will know about the company’s profits, money, and others on the analytics or my portfolio page.
What is my opinion on investing in startups via TykeInvest?
Personally, I am not investing in startups as of now. I may choose to invest in some of them later when I think a company is in my best interest.
For now, I am focussing on stocks and other short-term investment tools like TradeCred and Grip Invest. In fact, I have written clear reviews about TradeCred and GripInvest. Click the links below to read it and start investing.
If you are afraid of investing during a market crash, the above two investment tools are the most suitable ones. I have written a detailed article on how to invest during a market crash. Click here to read about it.
My Favorite Stock Trading/Investment Tools
TradeCred Review – Best Invoice Discounting Platform In India?
Best stock brokers for beginners in India.
Smallcase subscriptions for free.
Best broker and mutual fund investment for beginners – Groww – Click here to signup, activate your Demat account & Get Rs. 100 for free.
Best stock brokers for day trading –Upstox, Fyers.in (Free account, Free AMC)
Best charting platform – TradingView.com
Trusted Forex broker for Indians – Exness.com (Zero swap charges).
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Busting the myths of investing in US Market.
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Invest in Indian startups using TykeInvest.
Disclaimer
Disclaimer: All investment strategies and investments involve risk of loss. Nothing contained in this website should be construed as investment advice. Any reference to an investment’s past or potential performance is not, and should not be construed as, a recommendation or as a guarantee of any specific outcome or profit. Any ideas or strategies discussed herein should not be undertaken by any individual without prior consultation with a financial professional for the purpose of assessing whether the ideas or strategies that are discussed are suitable to you based on your own personal financial objectives, needs, and risk tolerance. This website expressly disclaims any liability or loss incurred by any person who acts on the information, ideas, or strategies discussed herein. The information contained herein is not, and shall not constitute an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy or an offer to purchase any securities, nor should it be deemed to be an offer, or a solicitation of an offer, to purchase or sell any investment product or service. Everything discussed here is only for educational purposes. Do your own research before investing.