82% of funded early-stage start-ups in 2019 had experienced founders: InnoVen

Early-stage investors are increasingly turning to serial entrepreneurs, experienced founders, and high-profile employees for new investments where investors are backing concept stage ventures and even pre-revenue stage startups, according to data compiled by InnoVen Capital.

Around 17% of funded start-ups in India were in the pre-revenue stage in 2019, compared to 12% in 2018. Among the funded startups in 2019, some 82% of founders had experience of more than 5 years while the majority (89%) of funded start-ups had at least co-founders, the report said.

The report compiled by InnoVen through inputs from 18 early-stage investors showed that most investors look for a clearly defined addressable market, product-market fit, and room for scalability of a product before making an investment.