Start-ups see intense deal activity as investors show renewed interest

Google, earlier this week, onboarded 20 start-ups for training and funding opportunities for the firms and said that startups will be a key to its $10 billion investment plans in India.
Start-ups see intense deal activity as investors show renewed interest

BENGALURU: Despite the double whammy of coronavirus pandemic and India-China tensions, the 
Indian startup ecosystem has seen an increased deal activity in last two months from both homegrown and foreign funds.Major US PE funds such as KKR, Tiger Global , Nexus Venture, Lightspeed ventures, 
Sequoia capital  as well as Japanese tech investment giant, Softbank remained bullish on Indian markers in the the second half of 2020 with a wide interest across various sectors like education, healthcare, digital payments and e-commerce.

On the other hand, homegrown funds including 3one4 capital, 9unicorns, Chiratae ventures, Axillor ventures   and even Paytm CEO, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Flipkart co-founders, Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal and other tech leaders have raised funds and invested in start-ups amid the crisis.

According to sector analysts, Jio platform’s fundraising spree to the tune of$ 20 billion proved to be pivotal in attracting the investors again towards the India’s startup ecosystem-, which is currently the secondly largest in the world.

India’s richest manMukesh Ambani earlier said during the Reliance Limited’s Annual General Meeting that he is welcoming the vibrant new-age companies to work with Jio for various tech initiatives and also hinted towards investing in the startups. Jio platform’s investors including KKR, Facebook, Google have also announced their plans to invest in the Indian start-up ecosystem. Prashant Kumar, managing director, KKR India, had  earlier said that its investments during the pandemic touched $30 billion, including its 
investment in Jio. Kumar said, that unlike the  recession in 2008, the investors now have a multi-pronged strategy and are showing keen interest in both Covid-19 proof as well as Covid-19 hit sectors.

“Healthcare, e-commerce, education were some of the sectors where active interest was seen. However, during the pandemic we have invested across diverse geographies and in multiple sectors,” he added.
Google, earlier this week, onboarded 20 start-ups for training and funding opportunities for the firms and said that startups will be a key to its $10 billion investment plans in India.

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