'Fluff of high valuations' has settled for firms: Padmaja Ruparel

Entrepreneurial expectations have become more realistic, says co-founder of India's largest group of angel investors

Start-up entrepreneurs have become realistic and the "fluff of high valuations" has settled, says Padmaja Ruparel, co-founder of Indian Angel Network (IAN), India’s largest group of angel investors. IAN, which was founded in 2006, has invested Rs 900 crore in more than 200 companies and it has a market valuation of over $9 billion. IAN aims to invest Rs 5,000 crore and create 500,000 jobs by 2030, Ruparel told Aryaman Gupta in an interview.

Here are edited excerpts from the interview.

The year 2022 has been about realistic expectations. How was it out for IAN?

It has been a good year. We closed