Indian Tech Startup Profits Soared To New Levels in 2019

India’s startup space has shown positive growth for several years now. It shows no sign of slowing, evidenced by the record numbers that soared across the board in 2019. Startups are expanding into exciting new territory which fuels their growth. In years past, their efforts have been on creating e-commerce solutions. Now, however, they’ve taken the market by storm and they’re seizing a vast range of opportunities. Through their creativity and vigor, Indian startups are creating solutions to market problems that have never been addressed.

Records Soared, Far Surpassing Previous Years

Tracxn reports a massive $14.5 billion was raised in 2019, far surpassing the then-high of $10.6 billion of last year. This was made possible by 817 investors and just under 2,000 financing rounds. 81 financing deals between $25 million and $100 million took place in 2019. This number has more than doubled from the 36 that were done just two years ago in 2017. There were 27 deals done above $100 million, or three times those done in 2017.

2018’s early-stage startups raised $3.3 billion and that number was more than doubled in 2019. A massive $6.9 billion was raised by 2019’s early-stage startups. Unlike previous years, financing deals for early-stage startups had a 22% year-over-year increase. This was almost unheard of as these early-stage startups are usually less appealing to investors. Their valuation increased by 15% in 2019 as they sit at $2.6 million.

Part of the success is due to the record number of international investors that were seen in 2019. This year alone, 128 Indian startups were acquired and four became public.

Other areas that secured funding include:

• 176 horizontal marketplaces
• 150 educational apps
• 160+ fintech startups
• 120+ trucking marketplaces
• 82 ride-hailing services
• 42 insurance platforms
• 33 used car listing services

Of those listed above, fintech startups raised the most in 2019. $3.2 billion alone was raised by fintech startups which were more than any other startup category.

Investors Who Made It Possible

The title of the most active venture capital fund goes to Sequoia Capital. They contributed to more than 50 investments. Not surprising, considering that their new managing director is Rajan Anandan who was a former Google executive. Other top venture capitalists include:

• Accel
• Tiger Global Management
• Blume Ventures
• Chiratae Ventures 

Steadview Capital had nine startup investments in 2019 and took the lead in private equity funds. Venture Capitalists with less than a handful of investments include:

• General Atlantic (4 startups)
• FMO, Sabre Partners India (3 startups)
• CDC Group (3 startups)

The top accelerator in 2019 went to Venture Catalysts who celebrated more than 40 investments. India’s success doesn’t stop there. Large corporate banks got in on the hustle and bustle, including the well-known Goldman Sachs. And, for the first time ever, an Indian startup was invested in by Facebook. This came in the form of Meesho, a social-commerce firm. Twitter also joined in and the result was a $100 million round in ShareChat- a networking app.