Investment in Indian startups plunges by 38%

The ongoing economic uncertainty and market volatility continue to affect the fundraising and investment activities in India and subsequently venture capital (VC) investment in the country startups suffered a massive year-on-year 38.2% decline in value terms during 2022, finds GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

An analysis of GlobalData’s Financial Deals Database reveals that a total of 1,726 VC funding deals worth $20.9 billion were announced in India in 2022 compared to 1,715 deals worth $33.8 billion in 2021.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “India is a key Asia-Pacific market and stands just next to China in terms of VC funding deal volume and value. It is also among the top four markets (the US, the UK, China and India) globally. India accounted for 5.1% and 6.3% share of global VC funding value and volume, respectively, in 2022.”

While the US, the UK and China registered decline in VC funding deal volume in 2022 compared to the previous year, India stood out as notable exception and registered 0.6% growth.

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Bose adds: “Although India’s VC funding deal volume has slightly increased year-on-year, the significant drop in VC funding value seems to be a fallout of growing investor cautiousness over startup valuations. Moreover, volatile market conditions and recession fears seem to have forced many investors to preserve capital. The restrictions on travel and in-person meetings also made it more difficult for VC firms to conduct due diligence on potential investments.”

As a result, the average size of VC funding deals, which stood at $19.7 million in 2021 fell to $12.1 million in 2022. Meanwhile, the number of VC deals valued more than or equal to $100 million announced in India stood at 42 in 2022 as compared to 86 during the previous year.

Bose concludes: “The decrease in venture capital investment can also be attributed to the lack of companies that can generate significant returns for investors. This is a common challenge for emerging economies, and India is no exception.”

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