Utsav Somani was among the earliest architects of India's modern angel investing ecosystem, personally bringing AngelList's full infrastructure to India as their advisor and India head before founding his own micro-fund iSeed. He designed iSeed specifically as a bridge connecting early-stage Indian founders with Silicon Valley capital and operators, while also building Offline, a private professional community, positioning him as both an investor and ecosystem builder.

• Focused heavily on facilitating deep, authentic peer communities for scaled-up startup founders. A major talking point is his initiative Offline, which organizes intensive small-group sessions and retreats to help founders step back and rewire their thinking, such as a recent trip to Darjeeling with a climate lab team and an annual retreat in Georgia featuring winter sports and team bonding.
• Dedicated to revamping how startup stories and insights are shared in India, driven by a belief that traditional tech media is slow and overly reliant on public relations. This is evidenced by his creation of a live broadcast network intended to replace recycled headlines, as well as a recently published book that compiles foundational advice gathered from interviewing a hundred top builders in the country.
• Committed to backing early-stage companies and publicly celebrating their growth milestones, acquisitions, and subsequent funding rounds. A strong example of his long-term loyalty to builders is his recent decision to lead a seed round for Grexa, noting that the deal was highly meaningful because he had previously backed the exact same team during his very first deal as an investor.
• Interested in startups that quietly build superior, trustworthy experiences in fundamentally broken or emerging categories. He frequently highlights portfolio companies tackling highly specific problems, such as a cyber resilience platform that recently raised a large Series B with Bessemer, or a veterinary clinic startup improving pet care infrastructure in India.