Startups raise $11.1 billion in 2019 amid economic slowdown (and other top stories of the week)

The first thing that pops in our head when we think about a startup is the city of Bengaluru. The Silicon Valley of India has remained at the forefront of tech-driven innovation, with the city possessing all the ingredients in terms of people, infrastructure, and know-how to keep this a pulsating, as well as a vibrant destination for the startup ecosystem today.

The Bengaluru Innovation Report 2019, a study done by leading institutional investors – Accel, 3one4 Capital, Ideaspring Capital, and the Government of Karnataka on the state of startups in Karnataka, amplifies the importance of the city as the destination for those who would like to start their tech venture.

When speaking about startups, we cannot miss out on the funding details. 

2019 was clouded with an economic slowdown, regulatory challenges, unfavourable taxation system, and global uncertainty arising from the US-China trade war, However, the Indian startup ecosystem weathered the storm and managed to raise funding through the year, working behind the scenes to strike deals with investors.

According to YourStory Research, the research arm of YourStory Media, startup funding trends in 2019 showed healthy investor interest in Indian startups. Homegrown Indian startups raised $11.1 billion in 2019, a fall of just 2.4 percent when compared to the corresponding period in 2018 (data used is as of December 27, 2019).

Now, despite the economic challenges faced in 2019, the Indian startups are eagerly waiting for Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget on February 1 with the hope that it would bring measures to facilitate the ease of doing business in the country and solve some knotty tax issues around ESOPs, LTCG, and GST.

Read more on what the cohort is expecting from the finance ministry in this year’s Budget. 

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