Disrupt #20: Angels are from heaven, mostly

Here’s a confession. Digital News Asia (DNA) would not have launched if our angel investor did not come in at the idea stage.

Our angel in fact heard about our plans from a trusted source and offered to invest without us asking him. How about that for confidence in our idea and us!

We use this example of an angel investment to illustrate that there are many reasons why an angel investor will come in.

For instance, Ganesh Kumar Bangah managed to get Vincent Tan to be his angel back in the late 90’ principally because of his father’s friendship with Tan. The rest as they say, is history.

But the history of many of our entrepreneurs is still waiting to be written and many of them are still searching for their angel investors.

And to give them an insight into how active angels are investing and what they really look for, our Disrupt #20 is themed “Meet the Angels”.

On the panel is Sachin Bhatia, part of the founding team of a travel portal in India, MakeMyTrip, that is now listed on the Nasdaq and angel for CatchThatBus, a Malaysian startup that recently raised over S$1 million.

Joining him is Pulsate chief executive officer Bob Chua, who took his listed company private in 2012 and is now ambitiously aiming to build Asia’s leading big data company.

He recently made a seven-figure investment into a drone startup in Sabah and is also chairman of an early attempt to stimulate the angel community in Malaysia, the Virtuous Investment Circle.

That did not really get anywhere and you can ask Chua why.

So, do come with all your questions or to share your own experiences with angels at our latest Disrupt, which will be held next Wednesday, July 23rd from 5.30pm to 7pm at the Petaling Jaya Hilton Hotel.

A Buka Puasa dinner will follow for all participants and because of the size of the room, attendance will be limited to 50 people, so please do RSVP for a spot.

Our thanks goes to Ivan Teh of Fusionex who is hosting not just the venue for Disrupt but the Buka Puasa dinner as well.

We hope you can join us!