Reflecting the bearish venture capital funding landscape globally, the number of venture capital funding deals and the value of those deals registered a decline in the first quarter of 2020 in the country.
India accounted for a 7 per cent share of the total number of VC funding deals announced globally during Q1 2024, while its share of the corresponding value stood at 4.1 per cent.
India, apart from being a key APAC market, is also a key global market for VC funding activity. It was among the top five markets globally in terms of both VC funding deal volume and value in Q1 2024.
The quantum of decline, however, is much less than the declines that countries like the US, the UK and several countries in the APAC region reported. The VC funding in the US fell by 35.7 per cent to $24.2 billion in the first quarter as the number of deals fell by 49 per cent to 1,137.
While the number of deals in India declined to 288 in the first quarter as against 294 deals in the same quarter last year, the aggregate value of these deals marginally fell to $2.3 billion in the quarter from $2.4 billion in the comparable quarter last year, according to data and analytics company Global Data.
“Though there was a year-on-year decline in deal activity, there were some bright spots, including a month-on-month (MoM) improvement in funding value in the first quarter of 2024. The funding value registered MoM growth for two straight months, February and March, even though the volume trend remained fluctuating,” Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, said.
“In addition, India saw the emergence of the two new unicorns, Krutrim and Perfios, during the quarter,” he said.
Moreover, there were also some big-ticket (valued more than or equal to $100 million) VC deals announcements during the quarter. Some key VC funding deals announced during the quarter included $300 million fundraising by Meesho; $103 million worth of funding secured by Pocket FM; and $100 million worth of funding raised by Shadowfax.