The state of the Indian startup ecosystem: looking back and forward

Indian startups raised $9.4 billion across 881 deals from around 1,476 active investors in the ecosystem.

Tuesday March 02, 2021 , 4 min Read

What a year 2020 had been!

Even as all seemed bleak, Indian startup founders did not lose hope, believing in “this too shall pass,” and continued to battle hard with resilience and empathy.

According to YourStory MediaResearch, the third-largest startup ecosystem came full circle in 2020 as the total funding and number of deals reaching a similar state as in 2015 — a year considered the tipping point for initiating the growth of startups in India.

Indian startups raised $9.4 billion across 881 deals from around 1,476 active investors in the ecosystem. While the funding amount reduced by almost 17 percent in comparison to 2019, the number of deals received a setback of around two percent.

Although investors adopted a cautious approach, they continue to diversify their portfolio and support existing portfolio companies with small ticket-size funding and follow-on rounds.

Now, two months into 2021, the Indian startup ecosystem has already grabbed 125 deals raising $1.5 billion in funding. Read more.

Download YourStory Research's report on 2020 funding trends in the Indian startup ecosystem.

The Interview

Meet Chetna Sinha, who set up Mann Deshi Sahakari Bank — India’s first bank by and for rural women. The Founder of Mann Deshi Sahakari Bank aims to empower women by helping them become financially independent.

In a conversation with YourStory, Chetna shares inspiring stories about how 'Women from Bharat' are remodelling India, and leveraging tech platforms like WhatsApp to get access to a wider market and showcase products in communities.

Editor’s Pick: Techie Tuesday

For Archie Agarwal, getting into engineering and tech was anything but the norm. Hailing from Indore, Archie’s father is a chartered accountant, and mother a homemaker. Technology didn’t really have a role to play. But destiny had other plans.

She was five when she learnt Logo on a computer at school. And, there was no looking back. Today, Archie is the product lead at Amazon in Seattle. Over the years, she has conducted research in areas such as requirement engineering, logical formalism, and semantic web concepts. Read more.

Techie Tuesday - Archie Agarwal — Archie Agarwal

Startup Spotlight

A startup solving intercity travel in Tamil Nadu with smart tools

Rosario Narchison Alex had the entrepreneurial genes right from his college days when he would collect and sell things from seniors to juniors in the hostel. It was, what he calls, “word of mouth entrepreneurship,” and helped cover his hostel expenses. A few years later, during his tenure at a UK-based mobility startup, he identified gaps in the outstation taxi travel space. In early 2020, he launched Taxida— an on-demand marketplace and booking platform that connects travellers with a variety of unorganised taxi service providers. Read more.

taxida snapshot — *Infographic: YS Design*

News & Updates

Inflection Point Ventures (IPV) aims to double its investment in startups to $20 million this year as it looks to play a larger role in mentoring and growing India's startup ecosystem. IPV is looking at expanding its network to 5,000 members by the end of 2021.

UPI transactions witnessed a 1.5 percent decline in transaction value, amounting to Rs 4,25,062 crore for February, causing a temporary blip after being on a continuous rise since July 2016, data shared by NPCI showed.

Startups KIKO TV and Stack Finance have been selected for the MOX 10 cohort, venture capital firm SOSV said. These startups are provided $150,000 in funding besides a six-month intensive accelerator programme that includes cross-border market entry and fundraising readiness.

UberIndia’s business is now showing strong signs of recovery, driven by increased demand for its low-cost products such as Uber Auto and Uber Moto. Some of Uber’s fastest recovering metro markets after the lockdown includes Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Mumbai.

New-Delhi-based digital mapping company MapmyIndialaunched Maps and Nearby Search features to help people across India locate coronavirus vaccination centres. The feature is available on both the mobile application and the official website.