Funding for Indian startups fell to its lowest with just $745 million in April. This is a sharp decrease from the year’s highest funding in January at $1.76 billion, as per a report by Entracker. The cut in the funding is primarily due to the investors’ shift to the public market and a decrease in the high-volume deals.
Downward trend continues
On a month-on-month basis, April registered a 34.65 percent drop in funding, which stood at $1.03 billion in the same month last year. This year, the funding has largely been on a downward trend. While January recorded a total of $1.76 billion in funding, it decreased to $802.72 million in February. Before its lowest in April, total funding for March stood at $1.14 billion.
In April, 116 deals were signed, with 12 acquisitions and mergers. The growth-stage startups raised the majority of the capital. The growth stage startups signed 23 deals and raised $562.63 million. Additionally, the early-stage startups raised $186.12 million in 77 deals.
Biggest deal signed by Spinny
Mobility startup Spinny signed the biggest deal of the month by raising $131 million in its Series E round. Prominent venture capitalist Accel Leaders Fund led the funding round. Fintech startups dominated April funding as Juspay, Scapia, and Easebuzz raised $60 million, $40 million, and $30 million, respectively.
Besides the disappointing funding numbers, April saw some prominent mergers and acquisitions. Leading logistics startup, Delhivery, acquired another logistics startup, Ecom Express, for $166 million. In another deal, Findi acquired BANKIT for $18.7 million. The edtech sector also saw one acquisition of Carmel Classes by Arihant Academy for $1.2 million.
Bengaluru retains top spot as startup hub
Bengaluru has retained its top spot on the list of the most funded startups of the month. 35 deals were signed for the Bengaluru-based startups in a total transaction value of $268 million. Delhi NCR stood in second place with 31 deals and $253 million in transaction value, followed by Mumbai, Chennai, and Pune with 15,8, and 7 deals respectively.