This year’s January-March quarter witnessed $4.4 billion worth of investments flowing into Indian startups. That is more than 32,000 crore Indian rupees, says the report released by Venture Intelligence, a market research firm. Compared to last year’s first quarter, this is an increase of 26%.
In 2019 Q4, the companies raised $4.1 billion and in 2018 Q3, it was $4.2 billion. Looks like, the current upward trend transcends to April as well. Within one week, six companies hit the Unicon status. In total, they earned about $1.5 billion as investments. It’s only been four months since the New Year. Interestingly, within that period, 10 unicorns took birth in the startup sector.
In India, the number of users subscribing to digital services is increasing day by day. The ‘digital push’ triggered by COVID-19 has made tech businesses stronger than before. An array of soonicorns is in the pipeline to become unicorns.
In the startup sector, 11 unicorns born in 2020, nine in 2019 and eight in 2018.
Today, it is relatively easy for successful business startups to gain investor support. Large venture capital firms such as Prosus Ventures, Tiger Global and SoftBank are investing heavily in local startups. In addition, many companies and pension funds are investing in online businesses.
The advent of micro VCs has made it easier for startup founders with experience and a good track record to access capital. Globally and locally, big companies are now buying shares from a significant number of startups. Also, now investors have lucrative ‘exit options’. Previously this aspect was obscure. Therefore, there were obstacles in taking risks.
Experts predict that healthcare companies will receive significant funding this year. During the pandemic, some segments of the region grew six-fold. While funding access is easy, startups need to plan carefully to avoid competition. For example, companies should build strong omnichannel businesses as Lenscart did. Keep in mind that better back-end operations are essential to accelerate business growth.
