Malabar Angel Network (MAN), a business division of Malabar Entrepreneurship Innovation Zone, Kannur (Mizone), a section 8, non profit company, is the first regional angel network in Kerala, with the objective of creating, and nurturing local start ups and creating a local early stage funding eco system. It has been observed that one of the primary reasons why startups do not survive and scale is the lack of early stage funding. Start ups in states like Kerala and specifically in regions like Malabar, are particularly disadvantaged in this scenario, as they do not have easy access to funding sources from other parts of the country. Since most of the angel investors are based in metros, regional start-up entrepreneurs have to travel to cities to pitch their ideas and discuss business proposals.. Hence precious management bandwidth is lost in the early stage of entrepreneurship. The solution to address this issue is to create a local source of funding, by having angel investors who are from the region. This resulted in the genesis of Malabar Angel Network (MAN).. MAN would give preference to Kerala based startups which can create local employment, and solve local, rural problems at scale.
MAN has at present over 50 members and they are growing. Members are experienced corporate management professionals, promoters of small and medium enterprises in the region, academicians and high net worth individuals in Kerala and other parts of the world. MAN aims to have knowledgeable professionals ,industrialists and domain experts as it’s members. MAN is committed to mentoring and bringing to investor table, the incubated start ups in Mizone, through the domain expertise of it’s members. MAN has a secretariat which builds a deal pipeline, conduct the pitch sessions at regular intervals, investor advocacy programmes, helps lead investors with due diligence and legal support. Since Angel Investment is a new field and is emerging as an alternate investment class with many questions and answers, MAN also conducts regular investor education to attract and retain investors. MAN also looks at regular interactions with other angel networks and VCs specially the empanelled fund of funds promoted by Kerala Start up Mission. MAN has existing tie ups with India’s No 1 angel network, Indian Angel Network(IAN) and Native Angel Leads of Tamil Nadu. MAN invites start ups looking for early stage funding to send their pitch deck to MAN’s secretariat admin@mizone.in. MAN also invites mentors to be part of the ecosystem and send in their brief resume and areas of interest where they would like to mentor, to the same email id.
How to become a member of MAN?
For becoming a member of MAN, Please go through the framework document for all the details. Members will have to satisfy the existing criteria laid down by Government of India and Securities and Exchange Board of India. ( These guidelines are under finalization by Government of India for angel investors). This form can be downloaded here, filled up and sent to the MAN secretariat in the Mizone address. The secretariat will verify the details and approve the membership and formal intimation of the approval will be communicated within 10 days of the date of receipt of the application.
MAN will conduct periodical open houses with it’s investors to take feedback of the functioning of the network and improve to create more impact.