Fremont: Everyone has a wishlist that they hope to fulfill. As an entrepreneur you would have a dream on where you see your company, but when you are an investor, there is a totally different set of aspects that matter. Not only would you be looking at a company which would give many times the amount you invested in, but you would also like to be angel behind the next Google, Facebook, Microsoft, or Hotmail. Though sometimes owing to certain preferences you might miss the bus, but you would always have a dream company where you would like to invest into.

“I would have liked to invest in the online baby products segment. When I became a father, not too long ago, it dawned on me how this sector is underserved in India. It is also very conducive to frequent repeat orders as requirements for diapers, milk formula etc are continuous. I missed the opportunity to invest in FirstCry, a business which would have appealed to me, both as an investor, and as a father!” says Gaurav Saraf, Director, Epiphany Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm.

Of the total of $30.6 billion raised by 3,051 companies in U.S., the Internet sector saw the highest investment with $1.054 billion pooled in, followed by the healthcare sector which raised $701.63 million, the energy sector with $326.56 million, and the mobile sector with $243.6 million in funding. So there are no doubts that the investors would be flocking the internet sector in 2012 also. Sameer Kanwar, General Partner, Basil Partners, an early growth stage venture capital firm says, “We are currently actively exploring investments in areas of Cloud and Big Data.”

2012 is seeing the rise of many e-commerce companies, mobile apps, and finance based service providers grab the attention of the investors. Chandrasekar Kandasamy, Managing Partner, ePlanet Capital, a growth capital and expansion stage venture capital firm says, “My preferred sectors would be innovative payment services models (not through mobile, but through other devices), social gaming, Innovative business models in E-commerce, and KPOs including analytics and ePublishing.”

The year has already seen over $49 million raised by U.S. based Indian startups and over $26.7 million raised by the Indian startups in January itself. With more and more startups popping up in the investment hotspot sectors, the year can be a surprise package for the startups and the investors alike.