The Indian Angel Network’s eponymous IAN Fund has appointed former Cisco director Pratik Bose as its managing partner, a press statement said.
Prior to Cisco, Bose founded Eka Systems, a Washington DC-based Internet of Things startup that provides networking solutions for energy management and utility operations and Altigy Networks, a startup offering solutions in space and satellite systems. He has also previously worked at aerospace, defence and security firm Lockheed Martin. He holds a master’s degree in networking and telecommunications from The Johns Hopkins University and an MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business.
In April this year, the IAN Fund marked its first close of Rs 175 crore (around $27 million). VCCircle had exclusively reported in February that IAN attained the first close of its fund at Rs 200 crore ($29.8 million). The fund will back startups in sectors such as healthcare and medical devices, software as a service, marketplaces, fintech, big data, artificial intelligence, and hardware.
Recent investments made by IAN include last-minute room booking app NightStay, farm equipment rental platform FarMart and parking technology startup Get My Parking.
The fund counts Kris Gopalakrishnan, co-founder and former chief executive of Infosys, Sunil Munjal, joint managing director at Hero Corp, and Dr Devi Shetty, founder and chairman of Narayana Hrudayalaya as part of its advisory committee.
Nearly 26 venture funds were established in India last year, according to data from VCCEdge, the data research platform of News Corp VCCircle. Early-stage funds launched last year include Ideaspring Capital, WaterBridge Ventures, Pravega Ventures and Stellaris Venture Partners, among others.
