Padmaja Ruparel is nationally recognized as a key player in the Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem and has helped co-found many of the relevant institutions, in addition to being an active angel investor herself. Her operating experience spans large corporates, M&A, and startups/early stage companies. She has been recognized as one of the 'Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Business' by Fortune India for four years, is listed in Forbes India’s W-Power Trailblazers and “30 Most Powerful Women in India” by Business Today for three years running. The Women Economic Forum recognized her with its “Women of the Decade in Investment Banking” award. She is the co-founder of the Indian Angel Network (IAN), India's first and now possibly one of the world’s largest group of business angels, comprising the who's who of successful entrepreneurs and dynamic CEOs from India and overseas. She built IAN from inception, making it within 15 years a unique institution globally, with close to 500 investors across 10 countries and a portfolio of approximately 200 companies in seven countries, spanning 17 sectors. She has operationalized IAN’s international operations in London – making it the only angel group in the world to set up operations outside of its home country. Padmaja is also the founder of BioAngels, India’s only sector-focused angel investor group, in partnership with BIRAC, the innovation arm of the Department of Biotechnology within the Government of India. BioAngels is the first angel investor group in partnership with any government body, worldwide – an innovative public – private partnership. She is a co-chair of the Global Business Angels Network.