NEW DELHI: Indian start-ups have secured only $7.6 billion in funding in the last nine months, marking a 7% decline from $8.2 billion in 2023 and a 66% fall from $22.4 billion funding in 2022.
As per Tracxn’s India Tech 9M 2024 report (Jan 1- Sept 13, 2024), the majority of funding came from late-stage rounds — about $4.7 billion, compared to $4.9 billion in 2023 and $14.3 billion in 2022. The country saw peak funding of $29.9 billion in 2021, but since then funding has declined due to ongoing geopolitical headwinds and the global funding winter.
Retail, fintech, and food and agriculture tech have emerged as the top-performing sectors. The retail sector managed to attract $1.95 billion in funding so far this year, and this is a 23% increase from 2023 but a 61% drop from 2022. Flipkart raised $350 million from Google, and Meesho secured $275 million during this period.
Fintech emerged as the second-highest funded sector as the sector raised $1.49 billion. However, this is a 39% fall from $2.46 billion in 2023 and a 70% fall from $4.97 billion in 2022. The food and agriculture tech sector too saw an increase in funding as the sector saw $1.43 billion in funding, a 63% rise from $880 million in 2023. However, this is down 48% from $2.75 billion in 2022.
Six start-ups have turned unicorns during this period as against just one in 2023. IPO activity also surged, with 29 tech companies going public, up from 15 in the same period last year.
“Despite the broader economic challenges, India’s tech ecosystem continues to demonstrate resilience. The emergence of six new unicorns and a surge in IPOs with 29 tech companies going public reflects investor confidence in the sector.
While overall funding has slowed, late-stage investments and the increasing momentum in fintech and retail show innovation-driven growth is still thriving in India’s start-up landscape,” said Neha Singh, co-founder Tracxn.
Retail sector funding
Retail sector managed to attract $1.95 billion in funding so far this year, and this is a 23% increase from 2023 but a 61% drop from 2022. Flipkart raised $350 million from Google, and Meesho secured $275 million during this period