Angel networks in an emerging economy: the case of Indian angel network

Abstract

On the one hand, angel networks help address imperfections associated with angel investing such as high search and information costs by realizing economies of scope and scale. They also provide other advantages such as diversification of portfolio. On the other hand they help preserve the advantages ofangel investing which are not available to investors in venture capital funds. This paper studies theworking of one angel network in an emerging economy, Indian Angel Network (IAN). It criticallyanalyses the functioning of IAN against the findings of relevant literature. The study finds that the IANorganization and processes are consistent with the characteristics of networks reported in literature. Atthe same time its organizational and governance throw up a few issues that would be of interest forfurther study.