2024-11-08
India's VC Tipping Point
VC funding for Indian startups exploded 85x in a decade. Its tipping point - COVID-19 - signalled it as a growing market investors could no longer ignore.
In 2013, VCs invested a modest $1.52B into startups in India. A decade later, VC investment into startups in India exploded about 85x to $129.67B.
There's an evident before-and-after COVID-19 effect on VC funding for startups in India. It increased steadily in the 2010s and exploded in the 2020s. That's also true of the mean funding and number of funded startups. The mean funding increased from $13.20M in 2020 to $96.55M in 2023. The number of funded startups increased from 461 in 2020 to 1,343 in 2023.
The industry attracting the most VC funding in India is commerce and shopping. These startups are transforming how over a billion people - many of whom are young, tech-savvy, and part of the growing middle class - buy, sell, and transact.
The geographical narrative is equally compelling. The startup capital of India alternates between Bangalore and Mumbai. It's a healthy competition between India's finance and technology capital. Though startups in Mumbai continually attract more funding.
Building a fast-growing startup in India was a dream a decade ago. Talent emigrated to access capital. But capital is now more readily available in India's duopoly of innovation - Mumbai and Bangalore. With its immense, growing population, it's a market investors no longer - and can no longer - ignore.
India's tipping point post-COVID-19 (2020) signalled the beginning of its decade. Or, as Jeff Bezos said more extravagantly in 2020, "The 21st century is going to be the Indian century." The timing for entrepreneurs and investors in India has never been better.
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