Guide
The deadline for non-accredited angel fund investors
SEBI extended the date once already. Here is what the current rule says, who it applies to, and what changes when it bites.
Checked against SEBI’s framework and the agency’s own guidance on 23 Sept 2026 · 5 min read
The short answer
Non-accredited investors have until 31 March 2027
An angel fund registered on or before 10 September 2025 may keep accepting contributions from non-accredited investors until 31 March 2027. From 1 April 2027 it may not — a contribution from someone without a certificate stops being something the fund can accept, however long they have invested with it.
The date moved once already: it was September 2026 before SEBI extended it. That is the reason this page carries a checked date rather than a publication date.
What actually changes
Two dates, two different worlds
Until 31 March 2027
An eligible fund can accept you without a certificate, within the 200-investor cap. You can commit to deals as you do today, and get accredited whenever you choose.
From 1 April 2027
A certificate becomes the condition of participating. Without one you cannot make a fresh contribution — your existing holdings are unaffected, but new commitments stop.
If you invest through an angel fund
What to do about it
If you intend to keep investing past 31 March 2027, treat accreditation as this financial year’s task rather than next year’s. The test is on completed financial years, so the figures you will use are already fixed — what takes time is the certificate from a Chartered Accountant and the agency’s review.
If you are not sure you qualify, find out before you plan around it. The calculator answers that in a couple of minutes, and costs nothing.
If you run a fund
The cap is the part that bites first
A fund close to 200 non-accredited investors runs out of room before it runs out of time, because every accredited investor it adds sits outside the cap. Funds we work with tend to start with the investors they expect to re-invest, rather than the whole book.
Worth knowing
Four things people get wrong about the deadline
The extension is not for every angel fund
It applies to angel funds registered on or before 10 September 2025. A fund registered after that date works on accredited investors only.
The 200-investor cap did not move
A fund may take contributions from at most 200 non-accredited investors in a scheme. The extension changed the date, not the cap — and accredited investors do not count against it.
Accreditation is not instant
A certificate involves a Chartered Accountant, documents in the right format and an agency that reviews them. Investors who start in the last weeks tend to find the CA is the slow part.
The rules are under review
SEBI has consulted on the framework and returns to it periodically. We keep this page current rather than dated — if something changes, the guide changes with it.
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