Apply for Funding!

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 a 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

Featured Angels

Dr. Vineeth Abraham

Director and Chief of Strategy & Planning, BMH

Dr. Vineeth is a Cardiothoracic Surgeon and Director at BMH, one of the largest corporate hospitals in Southern India. He leads the team at BMH in defining strategic direction, planning and growth, and plays a key role in leveraging technology, promoting innovation, international relations, medical tourism, community awareness etc. He is also passionate about social development initiatives and is actively involved in several nonprofits and charitable organizations.

He is an active angel investor and a board member at SmartSparks. He is a sector agnostic investor and presently has portfolio companies focused on medtech, e-commerce, hyperlocal logistics, AI, and HR Tech.

Mia Sarojini Kynadi

Co - founder & CTO, Venture Way

Mia is a data scientist, electronics engineer and early stage investor who leads the curation, incubation and implementation of artificial intelligence projects within the Venture Way Startup Ecosystem.

Following her Masters in Engineering from the State University of New York, Buffalo, Mia worked at Qualcomm Inc in San Diego. She later went on to specialize in Data Science and AI and has completed courses in Computational Thinking, Data Science and Machine Learning from MIT. She also holds a Professional Certificate in Artificial Intelligence from Harvard.

Mia is particularly interested in engaging with deep tech startups exploring ideas that seek to leverage artificial intelligence.

Nasly Mohammed

Director, KRS Ltd

Nasly is a director at KRS Ltd, one of India’s largest logistics companies with more than 500 branches across the country. He has been actively involved in the operations and growth of the company for more than 18 years after he completed his MBA from London.

Nasly is a serial entrepreneur who has co-founded multiple ventures and is actively involved in several large organizations including real estate and construction companies in India and the Middle East, 2 leading schools in Malabar, health care retail ventures etc.

Nasly is the President of SmartSparks, and is an active sector agnostic investor.

Vinay James Kynadi

Managing Partner, Venture Way

Vinay is a serial entrepreneur, industrialist and sector agnostic investor who has invested in over 15 ventures in and outside India. He is an MBA graduate from London Business School and an alumnus of the Venture Capital Unlocked program at Stanford.

He is the Founder of Venture Way, a ‘virtual global startup ecosystem’ and of Ideatory, an idea stage incubator and startup studio. Vinay is also the Co-founder & Managing Director of Highland Silver Sands, one of Kerala’s leading mining and rock crushing companies.

He is the Founder & Chairman of SmartSparks, and leads 2 other global angel networks; LAAN and MyEO Angels.

Our Philosophy

Our Vision

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.

Our Mission

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.

Our Core Values

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.

Our Investment Process

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.

Our Investment Thesis

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:

Sector Preferences

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.

Location Preferences

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.

Preferred Ticket Size

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.

Ideal Stage/ Funding Round

All our investments so far have been before the Series A round, and we expect that to continue being the case.

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