Though the Indian startup ecosystem has minted only 2 unicorns in 2023 (against 21 unicorns in 2022 and 45 in the funding mania-led 2022) – there are still over 100+ fast-growing startups that have the potential to become future unicorns in the country.
The year of extended funding winter has been worse for the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem in almost every sense — layoffs, shutdowns, deal counts, and capital infusions.
According to Inc42’s annual “Indian Tech Startup Funding Report – Indian startups secured over $10 Bn in funding this year, a 60% decrease compared to the $25 Bn raised in 2022. Here are some other key highlights from the report:
- Mega deals during the year fell to 23 deals – a 61.66% decline from the 60 mega deals in 2022.
- Top 3 startup hubs saw a major funding decline – Mumbai saw the maximum decline in funding at 62%, followed by Bengaluru at 61% and Delhi NCR at 51%. The median ticket size reached its lowest level since 2019 to $2.2 Mn from $4 Mn in 2019.
- Funding in women-led startups tanked 80% to $480 Mn from $2.4 Bn in 2022.
- Investors slashed the valuations of 8 unicorns, including BYJU’S, Meesho and PharmEasy.
That said, here’s a closer look at India’s soonicorn landscape: Download it from here >
