India has over ₹16 lakh crore committed to alternative investment funds. It has roughly 650 accredited investors.
That gap is about to matter a great deal. From 8 September 2026, angel funds in India can no longer accept fresh money from investors who are not accredited. A category most people had never heard of has quietly become the gate to early-stage investing.
If you invest in startups, or plan to, this affects you directly.
Here is what accreditation is, who qualifies, how to get it, and what it actually opens up.
What is an accredited investor?
An accredited investor is someone SEBI recognises as financially sophisticated enough to invest in products that carry more risk and less regulatory hand-holding.
The logic is simple. Retail investors get strong protections and standard rules. Investors with more capital and more experience can waive some of that in exchange for access to private markets, and to opportunities most people never see.
In India, the status is formal. You do not self-declare it. You apply, meet the criteria, and receive a dated certificate from a SEBI-designated agency.
Who qualifies as an accredited investor in India?
For individuals, HUFs, family trusts, and sole proprietorships, you need to meet any one of three routes.
Route | What you need |
Income | Annual income of ₹2 crore or more |
Net worth | Net worth of ₹7.5 crore or more, with at least half in financial assets |
Combined | Annual income of ₹1 crore or more, plus net worth of ₹5 crore or more |
There is a common misunderstanding worth clearing up. Having ₹5 crore in net worth alone does not qualify you. That figure belongs to the combined route, which also requires the income test. The pure net-worth path sits higher, at ₹7.5 crore.
Body corporates face a separate threshold, and certain entities, including SEBI-registered intermediaries and multilateral agencies, are treated as accredited by default under the SEBI AIF Regulations.
How do you become an accredited investor?
You apply to a SEBI-designated accreditation agency. The agencies are run by the depositories and exchanges, including NSDL, CDSL, BSE and NSE.
The process runs roughly like this:
Check which route you meet: income, net worth, or combined.
Gather proof: income tax returns for the income route, a certified statement of assets and liabilities for net worth.
Apply through an accreditation agency and pay the fee.
Receive a dated accreditation certificate once verified.
Present that certificate when a fund or product asks for it.
One practical point. A fund cannot treat you as onboarded until the certificate is actually issued. Starting the paperwork is not the same as being accredited, so plan for the processing time rather than assuming it clears overnight.
Accreditation also expires and needs renewal, so keep your financials audit-ready.
What does accreditation actually unlock?
The status matters because of what it gives you access to.
Angel funds. This is the big one. Following SEBI's revised framework for angel funds, issued in September 2025, angel funds can raise capital only from accredited investors. New funds registered after 10 September 2025 could onboard nobody else, and existing funds have until 8 September 2026 to complete the transition.
Lower minimums. SEBI removed the minimum cheque size requirement for investors in angel funds, so accredited investors can participate at varying ticket sizes rather than a fixed floor.
Flexibility in AIFs and PMS. Accredited investors can access certain fund categories and concessions that are closed to everyone else, with fewer standard product constraints.
For anyone serious about backing startups, that first point is decisive. Without certification, the formal angel fund route closes.
Our guide on how the India angel investment network works covers the wider landscape, and the piece on alternative investment funds explains where angel funds sit within it.
Why does the 8 September 2026 deadline matter?
Because it is the point where the old system ends.
Angel funds that existed before the new framework were given a one-year transition window. During that period, they could still make offers to up to 200 non-accredited investors. After 8 September 2026, no fresh investments from non-accredited investors are accepted.
Funds also have to verify status at the time of accepting money, either through a valid certificate or by confirming you meet the deemed-accredited criteria.
The practical effect: a large number of people who invested happily as angels for years now need a certificate to keep doing it through a fund.
Is the definition about to change?
Possibly, and it is worth watching.
In August 2026, SEBI published a consultation paper proposing a review of the framework.
The headline proposal is a new eligibility route based on securities market assets, set at ₹5 crore for individuals and ₹20 crore for body corporates, sitting alongside the existing income and net-worth tests.
The paper also proposes widening the pool of entities treated as accredited by default. Public comments closed on 3 September 2026.
Nothing here is final. This is a consultation, not a rule. But the direction is clear: SEBI is trying to widen a pool that has stayed remarkably small.
What accreditation is not
A few things get misread, and they are worth stating plainly.
Certification is not a SEBI endorsement of any fund or its returns. It says something about you, not about the product.
It does not remove the need to read the private placement memorandum, the fees, the lock-in, and the conflicts. The protections you waive are real ones.
It does not automatically reduce every product's ticket size. That happens only where the product and the regulations allow it.
And it cannot create eligibility. If you are below the thresholds, a certificate will not manufacture qualification.
The bottom line
Accreditation has gone from an obscure category to the entry ticket for formal angel investing in India.
If you meet one of the three routes, getting certified is administrative work, not a strategic decision, and it keeps your options open as more of the private market moves behind this gate.
If you do not meet the thresholds yet, the routes into startup investing are narrower than they were, though not closed. Our guide on how to invest in startups in India walks through what is still available.
With roughly 650 certified investors in a country this size, the gate is currently very narrow. SEBI's proposals may widen it, and that is the thing to watch through the rest of this year.
Key takeaways
An accredited investor is someone SEBI recognises as sophisticated enough to access private-market products with fewer standard protections.
Individuals qualify through one of three routes: ₹2 crore income, ₹7.5 crore net worth, or a combined ₹1 crore income with ₹5 crore net worth.
You apply through a SEBI-designated agency (NSDL, CDSL, BSE or NSE) and receive a dated certificate. Self-declaration does not count.
From 8 September 2026, angel funds cannot accept fresh money from non-accredited investors.
SEBI has proposed adding a securities-asset route of ₹5 crore, but that is still a consultation, not a rule.
Frequently asked questions
What does accredited investor mean in India? It is a formal SEBI category for investors who meet set income or net worth criteria and receive a certificate from a designated agency, giving them access to private-market products with fewer standard protections.
What is the minimum net worth to qualify in India? ₹7.5 crore on the pure net-worth route, with at least half in financial assets. The lower ₹5 crore figure applies only on the combined route, which also requires ₹1 crore of annual income.
How do I get an accredited investor certificate? Apply to a SEBI-designated accreditation agency run by NSDL, CDSL, BSE or NSE, submit proof of income or net worth, and receive a dated certificate once verified.
Do I need certification to invest in startups in India? To invest through a SEBI-registered angel fund, yes, from 8 September 2026. Other routes into startup investing exist outside that structure.
Does accreditation expire? Yes. It is issued for a defined period and needs renewal, so keep your financial documentation current.
