It has been revealed by PwC India that Indian start-ups received 33 per cent less funding in 2022 as compared to the previous year, despite of the fact that the funding was almost double than it was in 2019 or 2020. This finding has been backed up by a study the firm published on Wednesday.
Start-up Tracker-CY 22
A report titled ‘Start-up Tracker-CY 22’ found that global investors continue to be optimistic about the Indian start-up ecosystem despite the global economic slowdown.
Indian start-ups raised about USD 24 billion in funding during the second quarter of 2020, which is a drop of 33 percent compared to the second quarter of 21 but still almost twice as much as they raised in the second quarter of 20 and 19.
It is estimated that 132.8 billion dollars will be invested in start-ups in 2019, 10.9 billion dollars in 2020, and 35.2 billion dollars in 2021, as a total amount of investment.
It is noteworthy that in spite of the slowdown in funding, PwC India’s Deals & Start-ups Leader, Amit Nawka, highlighted that some sectors — like SaaS (Software as a Service) and early stage funding — have remained upbeat. Considering that a substantial amount of dry powder is waiting to be invested, it seems likely that the funding scenario will begin to normalise after two or three quarters. In the meantime, he said that many start-ups were leveraging the current economic situation to tighten their operating models and optimize their cash runways by deferring discretionary spending and investments.
City-wise start-up funding:
According to the research, Bengaluru, the National Capital Region, and Mumbai together accounted for roughly 82% of all Indian companies as of December 2022 in terms of start-up investment. In the top three cities, up to 28% of start-ups have funded more than $20 million.
The most unicorns were found in Bengaluru, followed by the National Capital Region and Mumbai. According to the paper, similar patterns have been observed for other businesses that have funded between $50 and $100 million.
