Investing In Foreign Startups from India

Winvesta Multi-Currency Account opens up a host of global investment opportunities. You may already be investing in US stocks and ETFs through Winvesta.

You can also invest in a company well before IPO through private investments. While such investments are higher risk, they also offer much better returns when they work well. Angel investors of Airbnb (ABNB) made an 800,000% return when the company was listed in the public market. Cool, eh? 😎

In the last few years, the US and UK have made it easier for retail investors to participate in startup fundraises. Startup investing used to be reserved for accredited investors with minimum investments as high as $10,000. Well, no more. One can now invest as little as $10 in a startup through crowdfunding platforms.

Some of these platforms even accept credit cards to make an investment. That’s a big NO in RBI’s books and a potential trouble maker when you repatriate the gains. For any overseas investment, the funds must go through your bank account under the appropriate LRS purpose code (S0001).

With a Winvesta MCA, you can now invest in foreign startups more easily, affordably, and (more importantly) legally. Remit a lump-sum amount to your MCA and then distribute it across a few opportunities. No need for foreign remittance for each investment.

You can also receive the capital and gains back in your MCA and then reallocate it to other investments without repatriating it to India.

That brings us to the execution.

Which platforms can you use for investing in foreign startups?

Here are our favorite ones:

1. AngelList:  AngelList is the world’s largest angel investing platform. To discover deals, you will need to join syndicates that work with the startups to launch the deals. Most syndicates are organized by themes – like AI, B2B SAAS, Food & Beverage, D2C Commerce, etc. The minimum investment size is usually $1000, and you may need to be an accredited investor (self-certified) to participate.

2. Republic.co (US): The US is the world’s biggest economy and the largest startup ecosystem. Naturally, the investment opportunities that emerge there are attractive. Republic is one of the largest crowdfunding platforms in the US. It has helped companies raise over $200m across 250+ deals, with names like Robinhood and SpaceX under its belt. You can invest as little as $10 in a deal.

Republic also offers fractional real estate investing, where you can invest in a property and earn rental yield + capital appreciation. Like this $463,000 apartment in Nashville, in which you can invest as little as $115:

3. Seedrs (UK): UK’s premier crowdfunding platform, over £1 billion has been raised through Seedrs across 1400 deals. You can invest as little as £10 in an opportunity. The platform provides access to both UK and European deals.

Seedrs also has an active secondary market where you can purchase shares of pre-IPO companies like Revolut. You can even buy shares of Seedrs itself in the secondary market!

4. OurCrowd (Global, Israel Focused): OurCrowd is an Israel-based investment platform built for accredited investors to invest in startups, early-stage companies, and venture funds. There are almost 100,000 registered investors on the platform with committed funds of $1.8 billion. The platform brings deals from all over the world, including Israel, the US, Canada, the UK, India, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Australia. The platform only accepts investments in USD.

How to start?

3 easy steps to start investing in foreign startups:

1. Decide the platforms you prefer and sign up
2. Find a deal that you want to invest in. Do your due-diligence.
3. Fund the deal through your Winvesta MCA account

Got more platforms in mind? Check with us how Winvesta MCA can help.

Disclaimer: Startup investing involves risks, including loss of capital, illiquidity, lack of dividends, and dilution, and should be done only as part of a diversified portfolio. Winvesta is not affiliated with the platforms mentioned above in any manner. If you are unsure, you should speak to a professional adviser before making any decisions.