New Delhi: Indian startups received about $6.5 billion in funding in the April-June 2021 quarter, while 11 of them entered the coveted unicorn club, a report by Nasscom-PGA Labs said.
During the second quarter, 160 funding deals were closed- up 2 per cent from the January-March period. Funding raised in second quarter was at $6.5 billion, up by 71 per cent quarter on quarter.
The biggest deal during the quarter was the $800 million fundraise by food delivery platform Swiggy, followed by ShareChat ($502 million), Byju’s ($340 million), PharmEasy ($323 million) and Meesho ($300 million), the report said.
The Indian startup ecosystem that generated 53 unicorns till June 2021 has made great strides in the April-June quarter. From recording most funding deals to adding the most number of unicorns in a quarter, investors’ confidence in good-quality digital businesses has strengthened like never before.
He added that the deal flow looks promising for the latter half as India opens after series of lockdowns and sectors such as fintech, foodtech and healthtech continue to benefit from pandemic-induced adoption. Fintech was the most funded sector, accounting for 27 per cent of the total deal value in the reported quarter.
This was followed by foodtech, enterprise tech, edtech, and media and entertainment.
Growth stage funding
Growth stage funding accounted for 61 per cent of the total deal value, it added.
100
startups received funding in the early stage, accounting for 9 per cent of the total funding raised
The June 2021 quarter also saw the rise of 11 unicorns (companies with $1 billion valuations) - Urban Company, Cred, Meesho, Groww, ShareChat, PharmEasy, Zeta, BrowserStack, Moglix, Gupshup and Chargebee.
This has taken the total number of unicorns in the country to 53 as of June. About 27 per cent of the unicorns added in the second quarter of 2021 were fintech startups, while 18 per cent each belong to SaaS (software as a service) and social commerce, the report said.
Interestingly, Tiger Global invested in 64 per cent of the unicorns during the second quarter of 2021.
B2B startups join the race
The report noted that B2B startups raised over $1.9 billion across 85 deals, with an average deal size of $22 million. The top three B2B funded startups were Zeta, Razorpay and Axtria.
B2C startups raised over $4.2 billion across 75 deals, with an average deal size of $56 million.
Top three B2C funded startups were:
- Swiggy
- ShareChat
- Byju’s
DeepTech startups raised $450 million across 29 deals.