Welcome to Kerala’s most resourceful young angel network
‘SmartSparks' is a network of young and successful investors committed to supporting and nurturing startups with early stage seed investments and mentoring.
If you have a great business idea, or an early stage start-up that you think could be supported by SmartSparks, you can use the link below to submit your details. SmartSparks is part of the Venture Way startup ecosystem. All applications to SmartSparks are routed through AngelsApp, Venture Way's proprietary deal management platform. You will be routed to AngelsApp from the link below and you may then submit your application to SmartSparks.
APPLY FOR FUNDING
To be the most resourceful, powerful and successful angel network in India, that churns out ventures that make a mark globally while generating attractive returns to the founders and our angel investors.
To identify the true potential of ideas, opportunities and entrepreneurs early; to invest in, mentor, and nurture promising and deserving ventures; and to help them think big and grow into industry leading, globally competitive, and socially responsible businesses which are perfectly streamlined to be easily worthy of later stage growth funding wherever necessary.
Innovation
We consider innovation fundamental for human progress, and we would most specifically be interested in the most innovative ideas presented to us.
Enterprise
Enterprise helps execute the Innovation. Entrepreneurs and their spirit of enterprise will be cardinal to ensure that any innovation is translated into a definable and scalable venture.
Synergy
It’s synergy that generates value. Value is generated only when there is synergy in the coming together of ideas, people and capital.
Screening and Fit Determination by Venture Way
All the details about your venture will be passed on to the Venture Way Deal Curation team. The team will evaluate your application based on fit, before passing it on to potential investors in the SmartSparks network.
Investor Circulation
After curation, the deal is shared on SmartSparks' deal management platform for all investors to view, engage with and assess.
Exploration
Usually a 10 day period when angels and startups get to ask questions and learn more about the venture and their mutual compatibility.
Due Diligence
Angel Investors will be allowed another 10 day period to complete their due diligence while the Share Holder Agreement is being drafted.
ONLINE APPLICATION THROUGH ANGELSAPP
All details about your venture and investment preferences are collected through the application. The application requires a pitch deck covering all key elements of your business to be uploaded.
Screening and Fit Determination by Venture Way
All the details about your venture will be passed on to the Venture Way Deal Curation team. The team will evaluate your application based on fit, before passing it on to potential investors in the SmartSparks network.
Curation
Post fit determination by the Venture Way team, your application will be curated by a SmartSparks member.
Investor Circulation
After curation, the deal is shared on SmartSparks' deal management platform for all investors to view, engage with and assess.
Pitching Session
Depending on investor interest shown, a pitching session will be set up virtually to take the deal forward. The pitching session is an opportunity for you to talk about yourself and your business, as well as for investors to ask questions about the venture and interact with you.
EXPLORATION
Usually a 10 day period when angels and startups get to ask questions and learn more about the venture and their mutual compatibility.
TERM SHEET SIGN UP
Based on the deliberations and discussions, a Term Sheet will be decided upon and signed at a joint meeting of investing angels and the founders.
DUE DILIGENCE
Angel Investors will be allowed another 10 day period to complete their due diligence while the Share Holder Agreement is being drafted.
SHAREHOLDER AGREEMENT
With the signing of the SHA, the investment in the company is completed.
ONLINE APPLICATION THROUGH ANGELSAPP
All details about your venture and investment preferences are collected through the application. The application requires a pitch deck covering all key elements of your business to be uploaded.
Curation
Post fit determination by the Venture Way team, your application will be curated by a SmartSparks member.
Pitching Session
Depending on investor interest shown, a pitching session will be set up virtually to take the deal forward. The pitching session is an opportunity for you to talk about yourself and your business, as well as for investors to ask questions about the venture and interact with you.
Term Sheet Sign Up
Based on the deliberations and discussions, a Term Sheet will be decided upon and signed at a joint meeting of investing angels and the founders.
SHAREHOLDER AGREEMENT
With the signing of the SHA, the investment in the company is completed.
SmartSparks being an angel network with an eclectic group of members, the network does not define a specific investment thesis for the group. Instead, the SmartSparks team works with individual members to help them etch out their own independent investment theses based on their contexts and interests.
However, to give founders approaching us some clarity regarding what they could expect from SmartSparks, we could surmise the following:
Many of our members are sector agnostic investors. We do have a few members who are interested only in specific sectors, but as a group, SmartSparks is sector agnostic.
Most of our members are from Kerala or have a Kerala connection. So particularly with our more involved and hands-on angels, we see a preference for startups from Kerala. However, since our members are spread across the globe, many of them are open to exploring opportunities outside India as well.
We have some angels who have been open to ticket sizes of upto $500,000 or more, but most of our angels prefer to invest between $10,000 to $40,000 per startup. Consequently, as a group SmartSparks angels would generally invest between $50,000 to $100,000 in a round.
All our investments so far have been before the Series A round, and we expect that to continue being the case.