Hyderabad: Indian startups raised $26.8 billion in VC funding from January till October this year as per GlobalData. This makes India the second major market in the Asia Pacific region after China with a high venture capital (VC) funding inflow into the startup ecosystem.
Chinese startups raised $80.6 billion in VC funding during the same period this year, which is triple the funds Indian startups have raised so far.
With the daily new COVID-19 cases consistently falling for some time now, VC investors seem to be betting big on the Indian startup ecosystem.
Indian startups raised $26.8 billion in VC funding during January-October 2021, revealed GlobalData report.
In India, a total of 1,339 VC funding deals with Indian startups were announced during Jan-Oct 2021, as per GlobalData’s Financial Deals Database. In comparison, 3,340 VC funding deals were announced in China during the first 10 months of 2021.
According to Aurojyoti Bose, GlobalData’s Lead Analysts, VC funding value in India has been witnessing growth from July through September with improvement in VC deal volume in past months.
“However, October reversed the growth trend as VC funding value, as well as volume, declined compared to the previous month,” said Bose. Nevertheless, October managed to see the announcement of several $100 million-plus deals.
Except for China, VC funding activity across several key global markets including the US, India and others have remained subdued during October.
Interestingly, Bose pointed that China is the second top market for VC investment globally after the US. “China continues to be the most prolific market with about 50% share in the APAC VC funding landscape, in terms of deal volume and value, so far in 2021,” said Bose.
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“Expanding consumer market, rapid increase in entrepreneurial spaces, and affordable labour costs make the East Asian country a favorable destination for startups in the long-run,” added Bose.
Some notable VC funding deals closed in October month include Pharmeasy’s $350 million, Coinswitch Kuber’s $260 million and Acko General Insurance’s $255 million.
“The subdued VC funding activity in October is likely to be for a short term. Rising smartphone penetration and affordable mobile Internet have transformed India into a digital-first economy,” opined Bose.
“As a result, the long-term prospects for Indian VC funding landscape seem bright with record birth of several unicorns during 2021 testifying growing investors traction,” concluded Bose.