BENGALURU: The Indian start-up ecosystem is thriving and many start-ups are witnessing an upsurge of foreign investments. Of late, Japanese investments are playing a huge role, as the country’s investments in Indian start-ups have grown rapidly over the last five years.
Consul General of Japan in Bengaluru Sugita Akiko (In picture) told TNIE that Japanese investments in Indian start-ups have reached $9.2 billion in May 2021.
“This is a seven-fold increase in the past 16 years,” she said, adding that Japan and India will continue to strengthen their ties in the areas of innovative technologies in the years to come.
Speaking at Growing Global Innovation Alliance (GIA) Partnerships at BTS (Bengaluru Tech Summit)-2021 held here in Bengaluru, Akiko said there is a particular emphasis on Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data and BlockChain.
Start-up investments by Japanese investors have generated 2.17 lakh employment till May 2021. Japan has been one of the biggest investors in India in the last two decades.
According to NASSCOM-NRI report ‘Japanese Investments into India’s Technology Sector’, Japan is the fifth largest investor in the Indian economy with cumulative FDI inflows of $35.4 billion during 2000-2021 (March) and India -Japan bilateral trade reached $13.4 billion in April-February FY 2020-21, where exports from Japan to India was $9.5 billion while import was $3.9 billion.
The report also mentions that there are over 100 active Japanese investors who have funded over 240 Indian start-ups across 360 deals between 2000 and May 2021.
Also, the number of Japanese companies registered in India grew at a CAGR 7% during 2010-20 to reach 1,455 while the number of Japanese establishments in India grew to 4,948 as on October 2020.
Softbank Group is one of the top investors with investment of $1,070 million, followed by JERA $200 million.
Also, the fintech, healthcare and mobility sectors have a large pool of start-ups and are attracting investment from multiple Japanese investors.
It may be noted that Mitsubishi Corporation had invested $140 million in GreyOrange that provides automation and robotics in warehouses.