India witnessed a decrease in venture capital (VC) funding deals, with a total of 920 deals announced during January-October 2023. This marked a 38.6% decline compared to the 1499 VC deals reported in the same period of 2022, revealed a report by GlobalData.
Additionally, the corresponding VC funding value experienced a significant drop of 67.1%, falling from $19.2 billion in January-October 2022 to $6.3 billion in January-October 2023, as reported by the data and analytics company.
“2023 so far has been a challenging year for Indian startups seeking to secure VC funding as investors go slow on deals with growing concerns around several homegrown startups such as Byjus. The massive fall in funding value indicates that VC firms are cutting down on big investments and raising capital in the current scenario is not easy for startups," said Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData.
However, India continues to rank among top five markets for VC funding activity globally and in fact, accounts for 5.4% of the total number of VC funding deals that were announced between January-October 2023 timeframe.
Furthermore, its portion of the corresponding disclosed deal value reached 3.1 percent. India holds a significant position in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) market and is closely ranked after China in terms of both volume and value of venture capital funding deals.
According to GlobalData's Financial Deals Database, India witnessed several venture capital funding rounds exceeding $100 million in 2023, despite subdued investor sentiments.
Among the noteworthy venture capital funding deals in India from January to October 2023 are PhysicsWallah securing $250 million, Perfios Software Solutions raising $229 million, PhonePe obtaining $200 million, Zepto securing $200 million, and Zetwerk raising $120 million.
“The ability to secure noteworthy funding rounds exceeding $100 million signals a resilient entrepreneurial spirit, showcasing the enduring attractiveness of India’s startup ecosystem, even amid cautious investor sentiment," she concluded.