IAN Fund I provides Exit
New Delhi, 08, October 2023 – IAN Fund I announces great exits from some of its investments. With only a partial divestment from Woodenstreet, the company has provided IAN an exceptional return of more than 10 times with an IRR of 105%! This comes on top of a partial divestment from Zypp which provided a 6.5 times return with an IRR of 88%. Both these companies have tremendous potential going forward and the Fund has retained the major part of its shareholding to ride their success.
WoodenStreet’s excellent founders, with a deep understanding of their domain- Lokendra Ranawat, Dinesh Pratap Singh, Virendra Ranawat & Vikas Baheti, have executed brilliantly to scale their business rapidly AND profitably, to 100 stores pan India. Their success has been fuelled by both creativity and tech enablement while improving the lives of the unorganised carpenter community. The company, based in a Tier 2 city, solves the problem of customised furniture for the growing Indian middle class, including home furniture, décor & furnishings and, very soon lightings as well.
Zypp is an electric mobility company, focused on making last mile delivery and mobility, achieve Zero emission and is aligning with India’s vision of achieving Net Zero by 2070. The company provides tech enabled shared electric mobility platform for delivery and mobility in an affordable and sustainable way. The passionate founders of Zypp, Akash, Rashi & Tushar, are one of the early companies focused on ESG partners with large delivery and ecommerce companies, across the country.
Lokendra Ranawat, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Woodenstreet, said “We are deeply grateful to IAN for their endless guidance, specially as we leveraged technology to scale & focus on customer satisfaction. We intend to open 300 stores in the next two years and are thrilled to introduce our exclusive furnishing line, ‘Earthy Threads’.
Akash Gupta, Co-founder & CEO of Zypp Electric, said, “Startups are here to return value to investors and this was a small milestone well achieved. IAN fund has been providing continued support right from the time when they invested in Zypp just before Covid-19. We continue to believe & work closely with IAN team as we scale Zypp to newer heights. The Mission Zero Emission has just started with 16k EVs and we plan to grow this to 200k+ EV fleet over next 3 years to electrify last mile delivery across India & beyond.”
Said Padmaja Ruparel, Co-Founder IAN & Founding Partner, IAN Fund I, “These are exciting companies, which have exhibited impressive growth but are poised to scale even faster and have yet to realise their full potential. IAN Fund 1 therefore remains majorly invested in them and hopes to give even better returns to its investors “
IAN Group remains steadfast in its commitment to delivering exceptional exits and returns from seed and early-stage companies. This latest achievement adds another shining accolade to its track record. Saurabh Srivastava, Co-Founder of IAN, emphasized, “Founders with innovative solutions to address real-world challenges will always be our top priority, and we look forward to continuing to create success stories like this.”
About IAN Fund I
A SEBI registered Rs. 375 crore fund, IAN Fund 1 is the maiden VC Fund of Indian Angel Network. It is a uniquely differentiated seed/early-stage Fund that aims to transform India’s entrepreneurial landscape. The fund invests in innovative companies in sectors including healthcare and medical devices, VR, AI, software as a service, marketplaces, fin-tech, big data, artificial intelligence, and hardware.
About Indian Angel Network:
Indian Angel Network (IAN) is India’s leading angel investor network. Founded in 2006, IAN brings together successful entrepreneurs, investors, and industry experts to support early-stage startups. IAN provides not only capital but also mentorship, network access, and strategic guidance to help startups grow and succeed.