Indian startups secure $395m in one week: report

Indian startups raised more than $395 million in 20 deals last week — an increase of about 350 per cent compared to the previous week, The Statesman reported.

According to The Statesman, in the month of July alone, Indian startups “raised $1.03 billion as the government abolished angel tax in the Union Budget 2024-25 which was levied on foreign investors”.

As per the report, the amount was raised through 126 deals — 28 of them were “growth or late-stage deals worth $725 million”, while 72 were in the initial-stages worth $311m.

It noted that startups such as hospitality and travel-tech company Oyo led the funding ecosystem with raising nearly $175m. Other startups included EV, fintech, and wealth and asset management firms.

Furthermore, it highlighted that Indian EV firm Ather Energy reportedly secured $71m, which took its valuation to $1.3bn, making it a “new unicorn”.

A unicorn is a privately held startup company with a market value equal to or above $1bn. Most of these unicorns will eventually become multinational companies listed in various stock markets, thus playing their part in the prosperity of the countries they are based in.

According to CB Insights, the United States had 653 unicorns in 2023, followed by China with 169 and India with 70.

“More than 55 regulatory reforms have been undertaken by the [Indian] government since 2016 to enhance ease of doing business, ease of raising capital and reduce compliance burden for the startup ecosystem,” the report said.

As for employment numbers, the report mentioned that the Indian startups have generated more than 1.55m direct jobs until now.