Indian startup funding declines 3.1% to $2.3 billion in Q1 CY2024

Indian startups raised as much as $2.3 billion in venture capital funding during the first quarter (Q1) of calendar year (CY) 2024. This was, however, a 3.1 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) decline compared to $2.4 billion in the same period last year, according to GlobalData — a data analytics company.

Deal volume among startups slipped 2 per cent year-on-year to 288 deals during Q1, down from 294 deals during the year-ago period.

The country saw the creation of two unicorns — companies valued at over $1 billion — during the quarter, namely Ola Krutrim and fintech Software as a Service (SaaS) firm Perfios.

“Though there was a year-on-year decline in deal activity, there were some bright spots, including a month-on-month (M-o-M) improvement in funding value in Q1 2024. The funding value registered month-on-month growth for two straight months, February and March, even though the volume trend remained fluctuating,” said Aurojyoti Bose, lead analyst at GlobalData.