Prabhu RamThe great Indian tech startup story is being rewritten amid the Covid-19 pandemic as traditional sectors still bear the brunt.
With 16 unicorns (startups with a valuation of over $1 billion) and more than $11 billion in funding, chiefly from the US-based investment firms (till June-end), the year 2021 has proved that Chinese investment is no longer needed in a ‘self-reliant’ India amid the new normal.
The Indian tech startups started to shun Chinese investment in 2020 as desi corporates and wealthy individuals, along with investors from other countries, came onboard to fund the homegrown firms.
In the first half of 2021, investors have pumped in at least $11 billion into the Indian tech startups in over 600 deals, which is growing at an exponential rate.
The US-based investment firm Tiger Global is currently leading when it comes to investing top dollars, overtaking another US-based venture capital firm Sequoia Capital as the top investor in the burgeoning Indian startup/unicorn ecosystem.
According to Prabhu Ram, Head-Industry Intelligence Group (IIG), CMR, the rise of new unicorns and IPOs signals the arrival of the golden age of Indian consumer internet startup ecosystem.
“As a vibrant mobile-first nation, India’s digital economy has been growing on the back of strong digital infrastructure, including rising smartphone penetration, affordable data costs and rising app downloads,” Ram told IANS.
“Over the past year, the pandemic gave further impetus to digital consumption. Responding to the needs of the digital economy are startup entrepreneurs, from urban as well as aspirational India who have been solving for an array of unique use cases,” he added.
Source: Business Today
