Do investors only fund IIT and IIM Founders?

"Investors only fund IIT and IIM startups", said one of the founders pitching to me to raise money.

"No. Investors fund smart founders, irrespective of whether they are from an IIT or an IIM".

Is my statement correct? Let's take a look.

So I am invested in a total of 7 startups including Exotel. At Exotel, I have not directly invested my money, but then time is bigger money than money itself so definitely I am invested in Exotel deeply.

Here are some of the statistics I found:
1. Total startups - 7
2. Total Founders - 19
3. IITian Founders - 8
4. IIM Founders - 2 (of which 1 is also from an IIT so double counted)
5. Founders without IIT or IIM tag - 10

As you can see, the count of Founders without IIT or IIM tags is 10 out of 19, which is a whopping 52.6% - more than half!

Did I have the option to invest my money in IIT and IIM founders only? Yes. Did I only invest in IIT and IIM founders? Nope. Are the non-IIT and non-IIM founders in my portfolio doing well? Absolutely! In fact, Jar's founders haven't even put a college education on their LinkedIn profiles. They've raised money from Tiger Global!

So, for me, my statement stands correct - "Investors want to invest in smart founders". Sure, there would be investors who would not fund you if you are not from an IIT or an IIM. But then you can't chase their thinking. Instead, go and talk to investors who have invested in non-IIT and non-IIM founders because if they've done it once, they will definitely do it for you.

I have shared a lot of my learnings about Business and Entrepreneurship on my YouTube Channel. Please check it here: https://youtube.com/@aman.goeliitb