Angel Investors Network established in Biratnagar

BIRATNAGAR: An Angel Investors Network (AIN) has been established in Biratnagar to promote business relationships between those seeking investment and those willing to invest.

Under the leadership of the Chamber of Industries Morang (CIM), the network has been set up with the slogan ‘Idea to Impact’. Its aim is to bridge potential investors and innovators in need of capital for innovation-based enterprises.

Chief Minister of Koshi Province, Hikmat Kumar Karki, formally launched the network at a special programme organised by the CIM on Thursday, according to a CIM press statement. He pledged that the Koshi Province government would collaborate to support the initiative, the first of its kind in Nepal.

He thanked the CIM for this work, noting that the network, established against the backdrop of the provincial government’s recent investment summit, has reaffirmed the province’s significant investment potential.

Chief Minister Karki also pledged support for the organisation’s startup and incubation programme, which involves identifying innovative entrepreneurs, qualifying them for investment and presenting them to investors. After watching presentations from nine start-ups at the event, he announced that the Koshi Province government would back all nine projects.

He added that the government would facilitate the creation of a business network for a company called Track on Nepal.

CIM President Nand Kishor Rathi said that the biggest challenge in working with startups over the past five years has been the lack of financial resources. To provide long term support by integrating potential investors, the non-profit AIN has been established.

He said he believed the network would select investable projects to present to investors and provide opportunities for start-ups seeking funding, thereby creating a suitable environment for start-ups to access finance and for investors to back new businesses.

Rathi added that start-up entrepreneurs need not only investment but also business experience and networks, and that the AIN would fulfil those needs alongside funding. He further noted that investors would gain new opportunities through the programme, making it a win–win for both parties.

Suyash Pyakurel, Coordinator of Biratnagar AIN, said that although there were doubts about its future when the CIM launched its startup programme five years ago, hundreds of ideas have since been successfully incubated thanks to growing support.

He added that, as it is difficult for small scale, especially first generation, startups to raise funding, the AIN will provide both finance and business services to promising ventures. He said some investors have already formed Rs 20 million investment fund in the first phase and invited interested parties to join the AIN.