Ivan Alexander was the son of the Despot Sracimir of Kran by Petrica, a sister of Michael Asen III of Bulgaria. Therefore, Ivan Alexander was a nephew of Michael Asen III. Paternally, Ivan Alexander descended from the Asen dynasty. By 1330 Ivan Alexander was himself a despot and governed the city of Lovech. Together with his father and his father-in-law Basarab of Wallachia, Ivan Alexander fought in the Battle of Velbazhd against the Serbs at modern-day Kyustendil in 1330, in which Bulgaria suffered defeat. The defeat, combined with the worsening relations with the Byzantine Empire, precipitated an internal crisis, which was exacerbated by an invasion of the Byzantines. A coup d'état drove Ivan Stefan out of the capital Tarnovo in 1331, and the conspirators placed Ivan Alexander on the throne.