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 Research, 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.
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.
Infographic: YS Design
News & Updates
- 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.
Before you go, stay inspired with…
“Startups need to work towards positive unit economics where there is a balance between growth and profitability.”
— Hans Tung, Managing Partner, GGV Capital
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