Skip to main content

Startup Investments hit record high with $7.5 Billion in 2018

Startup investments in India rose to their highest ever figure of $7.5 billion in 2018 (across 476 deals), according to data from Venture Intelligence, a research service focused on private company financials, transactions and their valuations. Led by the $1 Billion investments in Swiggy and Oyo, the investment value more than doubled compared to 500 deals worth $3.5 Billion recorded in 2017. Including the above two deals, there were thirteen $100M+ deals in 2018 accounting for 56% of the deal value(Note: Startup investments include Seed to Series G investments by venture capital and private equity funds in companies less than 10 years old. The data hence doesn't include investments like Berkshire Hathway's investment in One97 Communication/Paytm.)



The year saw the creation of 8 unicorns, more than any other year. Apart from well known consumer companies like Swiggy, Byjus, 3 B2B companies - Freshdesk, Udaan and Billdesk - also attained Unicorn status.

By Sector

Tech and tech enabled companies continue to receive a major share of the startup investments. Their share of investments went up slightly from 85% to 86% in 2018. Non tech investments were down 10% compared to 4% for tech investments. Like 2017, 60% of investments went into B2C companies. While the first quarter of 2018 opened with B2B companies competing neck to neck with B2C, B2C startups gained more share from the second quarter.


With 95 investments, E-Commerce grabbed the highest share of investments accounting for 18% of investment activity followed by Fintech (with 79 deals). The third largest sector was Healthtech with 62 deals.

The most funded business models in 2018 were Consumer & Business Lending, Grocery delivery, e-Pharmacies, B2B E-Commerce and SaaS - CRM companies. Apart from Artificial intelligence enabled business, upcoming sectors which saw purchase from investors include Auto startups, Gaming, Rental startups and Robotics.

By Round

Deal volume has been consistently falling from 629 deals in 2015 to 476 deals in 2018, primarily led by the fall in Early Stage investments. The Early Stage segment has been falling more than 15% every year since 2015. Investments by Super Angels and Angel Networks have been stuck at the 200 mark for the past few years.


Established companies have gone on to raise bigger and bigger rounds, some in the same year with much higher valuations. Rounds Series C and beyond have increased 55% in terms of volume and 2.2x times the value invested.

By City

While Bangalore and NCR continue to be favourite hunting grounds for VCs, a deeper dive shows  other cities which gained market share in 2018. Among metropolitan cities Mumbai and Chennai were the only two to see more investments in 2018 than 2017. The state of Kerala and city of Jaipur are also a couple of regions VCs made more investments in 2018 than 2017. Hyderabad saw a dip in startup investments in 2018.



Mumbai especially bounced back quite strongly from the lows of the last two years - on the back of strong investments in Fintech and E-Commerce startups, others sectors backed in Mumbai are FMCG, Fashion, Healthtech, and Logistics tech. For Chennai, apart from SaaS as well Deeptech - especially startups incubated at IIT - Madras.

Most Active Investors

Sequoia Capital India overtook Accel India as most active investor with 36 investments (in 32 startups). Accel made 31 investments (in 28 startups) followed by three investors - Blume Ventures, Kalaari Capital and Nexus Venture Partners with 18 startups.

Investors who increased their growth capital investments in 2018 include DST Global, Nexus Venture Partners, Naspers, Sistema Asia, and Lightspeed Ventures. Seed funds who increased their investment activity in 2018 were SIDBI VC, IAN Fund and Axilor Ventures.



Venture Intelligence is India's longest serving provider of data and analysis on Private Company Financials, Transactions (private equity, venture capital and M&A) & their Valuations in India.

Popular posts from this blog

PE-VC investments in Q2'23 decline 33% to $9.9 Billion

Private Equity-Venture Capital (PE-VC) investments in India during the quarter ended June 2023 (Q2'23), at $9.85 Billion across 182 deals, registered a 33% decrease compared to the same period in 2022 (which saw $14.6 Billion being invested across 371 deals). The investment amount however rose 74% compared to the immediate previous quarter (which saw $5.7 Billion being invested across 181 deals), shows data from  Venture Intelligence , a research service focused on private company financials, transactions, and their valuations. The PE-VC investment figures for the first 6 months of 2023 - at $15.5 Billion (across 363 deals) - was 50% lower compared to the same period in 2022 (which saw $31 Billion being invested across 800 deals). Q2’23 witnessed 19 mega deals ($100 M+

Chiratae, Speciale and Stride Ventures win APEX'24 Venture Capital Awards

Chiratae Ventures, Speciale Invest and Stride Ventures were awarded as among the leading Venture Capital investors in India for 2023 as part of Venture Intelligence APEX‘24 Private Equity & Venture Capital awards event in Mumbai.  The Venture Intelligence “Awards for Private Equity Excellence” (APEX) is dedicated to celebrating the best that the Indian Private Equity & Venture Capital industry has to offer. The APEX Awardees are selected based on both Self Nomination by the participating PE-VC firms and "crowd sourced" voting from the Limited Partner, PE-VC and advisory communities. (The main criteria are Return Track Record, New Fund Raises & Follow-on Funding Rounds for Portfolio Companies) VC Investor of the Year Chiratae Ventures received the Venture Capital Investor of the Year 2023 Award on the back of 10 part exits totaling $178 million via Secondary Sales during the year. Its exits included those from retail unicorn Lenskart, SaaS Startup Pixis and baby pr

Blackstone, MO Alts and InvAscent win APEX'24 Private Equity Awards

Press Release Blackstone, MO Alternates (formerly Motilal Oswal PE) and InvAscent were awarded as among the leading Private Equity and Growth Capital investors in India for 2023 as part of Venture Intelligence APEX‘24 Private Equity & Venture Capital awards event in Mumbai.  The Venture Intelligence “Awards for Private Equity Excellence” (APEX) is dedicated to celebrating the best that the Indian Private Equity & Venture Capital industry has to offer. The APEX Awardees are selected based on both Self Nomination by the participating PE-VC firms and "crowd sourced" voting from the Limited Partner, PE-VC and advisory communities. (The main criteria are Return Track Record, New Fund Raises & Follow-on Funding Rounds for Portfolio Companies) PE Investor of the Year Blackstone received the Private Equity Investor of the Year 2023 Award on the back of strong complete exits during the year: from Sona Comstar and IBS Software. Ganesh Mani and Amit Dalmia, Senior Managing D

Avendus tops League Table for Transaction Advisors to PE deals in Q1'23

Aeka Advisors and Ambit claim the No.2 & 3 slot Avendus topped the Venture Intelligence League Table for Transaction Advisor to Private Equity Transactions for Q1 2023 advising 5 deals worth $808 million. Aeka Advisors stood second having advised 3 deals worth $228 million. Ambit followed with 4 deals worth $160 million. Ernst & Young ($114 million across 4 deals) and o3 Capital ($80 million across 2 deals) completed the top five for Q1 2023. Avendus acted as advisor to ADIA’s $500 million investment in omnichannel eyewear retailer Lenskart . Aeka Advisors acted as advisor to Kreditbee’s $160 million fundraise from Advent International, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) and existing investors. Ambit advised the $104 million fundraise of Freshtohome from Mount Judi Ventures, Iron Pillar, Amazon and others. The  Venture Intelligence League Tables , the first such initiative exclusively tracking transactions involving India-based companies, are based on the value of PE

PE-VC investments fall 38% in 2023 to below $30 B

The value of investments by Private Equity - Venture Capital (PE-VC) firms in India fell by 38% to less than $30 Billion in 2023. PE-VC firms invested $29.7 Billion (across 756 deals) in Indian companies in 2023, compared to $47.6 Billion (across 1,362 deals) in the previous year, reports Venture Intelligenc e, a research service focused on private company financials, transactions, and their valuations. (Note: These figures exclude PE investments in Real Estate).                                                                                                                                                                      2023 witnessed 67 mega deals ($100 M+ rounds) worth $21.2 Billion, compared to 112 such investments worth $31.8 Billion in 2022. The $2.4 Billion investment in Manipal Hospitals by Temasek (which gained majority control) and TPG Capital was the largest PE-VC investment in 2023. This was followed by the $1.35 Billion buyout of education loans focused HDFC Credila