Investor Profile: Digital Futurists Angels - Thesis, Cheque Size & How to Apply

Digital Futurists Angels (DFAN) is a community-backed angel network headquartered in Gurugram and founded in 2019. It backs technology-led startups at seed stage, with a stated preference for business-to-business, business-to-business-to-consumer and business-to-government models, and pairs capital with mentorship from a community of technologists.

Thesis

DFAN invests in tech-enabled businesses that can create a large social impact alongside returns. Its director and co-founder Vivek Gupta has put the philosophy simply: adding value is the priority, and the portfolio should be both profitable and positive for the nation. The network looks for technology that can reach deep into the country, serving communities far beyond the metros, and it draws on a parent community, Digital Futurists, whose members work across artificial intelligence, blockchain, the internet of things, Industry 4.0, robotics and computer vision.

Sectors & Stages

DFAN invests at seed stage and is sector-agnostic within technology, with its portfolio spanning high tech, enterprise applications and edtech. Its members prefer technology, business-to-business, business-to-business-to-consumer and business-to-government companies, and its portfolio spans India and the United States. The network has also spoken about launching incubator-cum-accelerator programmes in selected tier-II cities.

Fund & Cheque Size

DFAN is an angel network rather than a fund, and its total fund size is not publicly disclosed. Individual deal sizes are modest: its latest recorded investment was a $476,000 seed round in iRasus Technologies in October 2024. Separately, DFAN partnered with boutique investment banking firm Solis Capital and Ventures to co-invest and deploy a planned corpus of INR 100 crore over four years into early-stage startups, alongside mentorship and advisory support.

Notable Portfolio

DFAN has a portfolio of eight companies, with eleven recorded investments and two exits. Its notable investments include Goseeko, an edtech platform making higher education study material affordable for students in tier-II to tier-IV cities; ZiffyHealth, a telemedicine platform connecting rural healthcare ecosystems; Codevidhya, an education and training company; iRasus Technologies, a business software company; Bioheaven 360, a healthcare discovery-tools company; Meratractor.com, a media and information services company; and DheeYantra Research Labs, a business software company.

Partners & Programs

DFAN is led by director and co-founder Vivek Gupta and co-founder, director and chief financial officer Mohit Arora. Its key partnership is with KareKeBa Ventures, a Patna-based accelerator-cum-angel investment platform, with which it jointly evaluates and funds industry-agnostic technology startups focused on Bharat. Their first joint funding was ZiffyHealth, in a seed round of about INR 2 crore led by KareKeBa Ventures and supported by Jharkhand Angels. The parent Digital Futurists community is spread across twenty cities, including Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Singapore, Melbourne, Sydney, New York, London and Dubai.

How to apply for funding

Founders can approach DFAN through its website and the contact email published in its press material. Because it is a community-backed network, warm introductions through its investor community and partners such as KareKeBa Ventures carry weight. Founders should be ready to show a technology-led product, early traction, and a clear case for impact in Bharat as well as returns.