The startup world may never ride the high waves of 2015 but 2017 proved that big ticket funding is not a thing of the past. After a year of drought in 2016, the stars of the Indian startup ecosystem came back to prove they still possess the confidence of the investors.
However, the downtrend of 2016 did result in substantial cutback on their valuations. While Flipkart ended its drought with $1.4 billion from Tencent, Microsoft, eBay, and Naspers in April this year at a reduced valuation of $11.6 billion (from $15 billion), Ola raised $404 million from Falcon Capital and Softbank Group a few days later at a reduced valuation of $3 billion (from $4.5 billion).
It is only Paytm which managed to buck this trend and raised as much as Flipkart ($1.4 billion), but at a higher valuation of $7 billion, up from $6 billion.
The total funding has, however, down marginally from $7,505 million in 2016 to $6,445 million in 2017. To put it in perspective, the number of deals have come down drastically too this year to 509 from 1,345 in 2016 for the corresponding period. This means that while investors are happy to participate in big funding rounds, they are cautious when it comes to the companies they want to back.
It is apparent that 2015 has left its marks on the Indian startup ecosystem and while funds are available and investors are optimistic, responsible expansion would be the way forward.
In our half-yearly report on State of Startups, 2017, we explore the way forward of the top 10 funded startups of India and discuss the changes they have made in order to grow.
Top Funded Startups of 2017 (YTD)
Company (Funds invested)
1. Paytm ($1.4 bn)
2. Flipkart ($1.4 bn)
3. Ola ($404 mn)
4. ReNew Power Ventures ($200 mn)
5. Paytm Mall ($200 mn)
6. Greenko Group ($155 mn)
7. Delhivery ($138 mn)
8. Hero Future Energies ($125 mn)
9. Spandana Sphoorty Financial Limited ($100 mn)
10. Swiggy ($80 mn)
Top Angel Funding Rounds (YTD 2017)
Company (Funds invested)
1. Flock ($25 mn)
2. iSoS ($5 mn)
3. CASHe ($3.8 mn)
4. Latest One ($3.3 mn)
5. Wassup Ondemand ($3.2 mn)
6. Heads Up For Tails ($2 mn)
7. Twenty Two Motors ($1.6 mn)
8. Juno Cinic ($1.2 mn)
9. EzCred ($1 mn)
10. GST Star ($1 mn)
Top Seed Funding Rounds (YTD 2017)
Company (Funds invested)
1. Acko ($30.9 mn)
2. Julia Computing ($4.6 mn)
3. WayCool Foods and Products ($2.7 mn)
4. RedCarpetUp ($2.5 mn)
5. Loan Frame ($2.25 mn)
6. TinyStep ($2 mn)
7. Cheep ($2 mn)
8. Petasense ($1.8 mn)
9. PickMe ($1.79 mn)
10. Suprdaily ($1.62 mn)
The article was authored by Chhavi Tyagi for Economic Times on Aug 11, 2017.