Startup Circle: How IPV provides both monetary and non-monetary support to the startups

Inflection Point Ventures is an active angel investment networks with 7500+ investors on the platform including top CXOs, HNIs & working professionals. Started in 2018, with the vision to democratize angel investing, the early-stage investment group is founded by Vinay Bansal, Ankur Mittal, and Mitesh Shah. Setup with the belief that 'Everyone can grow with Startups', Inflection Point Ventures drives exponential value creation by being a digital-first platform built on the pillars of an accessible & efficient network connecting a diverse investor community with a carefully curated set of startups. IPV provides both monetary and non-monetary support to the startups, as well as complete transparency around valuation & findings during due diligence and personal interest (if any) to its investors.

Ankur Mittal is a Partner at Physis Capital and a co-founder of Inflection Point Ventures. He is a finance expert and has over 20 years of experience, globally. He is a CA and holds an MBA from Georgetown University. He has worked with Fortune 50 companies, Citi and GE Capital, specializing in expansion, and acquisition and has advised Fortune 500 companies across various sectors and industries at Credit Suisse. He has also managed and played a vital role in the expansion of operations in TTS across Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. Ankur is an active investor himself and has invested in 80+ startups with over 20 successful exits.

Speaking to CIOL, Ankur Mittal, Co-founder, Inflection Point Ventures, has shared his views about the drivers/market trends that are shaping the Fintech landscape in 2022. He talked about his startup journey and also, and he speaks about the growth plans he has for IPV.

Tell us about IPV and your offerings. Tell us about the team.

Inflection Point Ventures is one of India’s largest and most active angel investment networks, with 7500+ investors on the platform, including top CXOs, HNIs, and working professionals. Our core vision at IPV is to be the world’s most accessible angel-investing network providing funding & non-monetary support to startups to enable them to scale & grow.

When the IPV founders set out on their own angel investing journey, they found the ecosystem limited to specific persons with certain networks and backgrounds. IPV was launched to change this mindset by opening up startup investment as an asset class for people from different walks of life.

With our mantra, "Everyone can grow with startups," IPV drives exponential value creation by being a digital-first platform built on the pillars of an accessible and efficient network connecting a diverse investor community with a carefully curated set of startups.

The IPV founders come with a deep experience in Fortune 500 corporates and the start-up ecosystem, in finance & business. The 150+ member team, with a wide range of skill sets and backgrounds from various industries, are passionate, operationally intensive and work closely with our investors and startups.

Tell us about the kind of startups that interest you.

IPV is a sector agnostic platform and we invest in startups that are solving a real problem and can bring scale to their business operations. We believe in backing passionate and resilient founders who are running great businesses at a reasonable valuation. Our portfolio spans sectors like healthcare, cleantech, sports and fitness, retail finance, HR, deep tech and AI, education, supply chain, logistics etc.

We evaluate a large number of startups on a continuous basis. We have seen 8200+ startups in our journey so far and every investment opportunity is evaluated on merits. Our criteria remains grounded and are constant irrespective of temporary trends.

What are the drivers/market trends that are shaping the Fintech landscape in 2022?

We believe financial inclusion; data security and privacy will be the core drivers of technological advances over the next few years. Another disruptive area would be AI led but what it could disrupt and the concerns around it will be another core focus.

How is IPV tapping these market trends for growth?

IPV believes in the power of leveraging the ecosystem, be it our 7500+ members including many CXO and senior professionals, our VC & Investment Banking partners and our start-ups. While keeping abreast of trends and research, we continue to assess, evaluate and fund based on our core principles. We have been able to generate great returns for our investors and continue to listen to feedback and build that into our offerings and processes.

Startups have taken a really hard hit amid the pandemic. What has IPV done for its startups so far?

At IPV, we believe that capital isn’t only about monetary investment, but also investing our experience and connections to help startups grow. We have seen it work at many of our portfolio startups where IPV investor engagement has propelled the start-up to faster growth trajectory.

We have always applied this, and this principle was only strengthened during the pandemic. We support through investor mentors, including working on specific areas like marketing, operations, business opportunities via our investor CXO network, larger next round fund raises via our VC and IB connect programs, to name some.

What do you think will happen to angel investments over the next quarter?

Angel investing as a high potential asset class to be added to one’s investment portfolio is starting to open. Like IPV, Shark tank and other programs are building start-ups, angel investing into the common vocabulary of a layman. There is an immense opportunity waiting to be tapped into. As a platform, we aim to provide opportunities for individuals to become angel investors by offering access to information, knowledge and learning. We launched the Main Bhi Angel (MBA) initiative, where we believe getting one’s feet wet is the best way to truly learn. We are enabling this by lowering the threshold for investing to as low as INR 1 lakh (Subject to certain criteria) in a startup.

How has your revenue grown with the brand evolving during the pandemic?

IPV has evolved and grown with time. Over the years, we have gained a deep understanding of the Indian startup ecosystem and reflect that in our processes and systems. Our high ratio of success is reflected with 9 exits and 44 partial exits. We’ve had 1300+ first time investors participating in angel investing through the IPV platform. Our investors trust our processes and our transparency.

What has 2022 changed for you? How are things now?

From a 2022 perspective, what has not changed and what was re-emphasized were our core principles and criteria for investing. Opportunities for exciting start-ups continued, and we continue building our team for scale. In 2022, we announced the launch of our CAT II fund that will invest in later stage startups, looking to raise Series A and B rounds. Late-stage investment requires larger funding rounds, and now IPV can invest in those opportunities as well.

What are your growth priorities for 2023?

Our 2023 growth priorities will be focused on deepening our vision of democratizing angel investing, leveraging our Main Bhi Angel (MBA) program, and, of course, continuing to partner with startups even post fundraising. We continue to be stage and sector-agnostic and provide not only funding support but also strategic guidance and mentorship to our portfolio companies. Our goal is to help startups navigate the challenges of the Indian startup ecosystem and significantly increase the success rate of our portfolio companies vis-à-vis the broader ecosystem. and hence generate exponential returns for our investors.