The inflow of venture capital funds into Indian startups is on the decline mode as the depressed global macroeconomic conditions had its bearing on the ecosystem.
The total venture funding raised by Indian startups in the last week of the month stood at $140 million cutting across 19 deals. In comparison, the previous week saw venture fund inflow of $188 million.
The last week of September got the lift from just three transactions – Molbio Diagnostics, Signzy and Elucidata. Rest of the transactions consisted of deals which were below $5 million in size.
During the week there were other developments which does not bode good news for the startup ecosystem. First, was the sale by logistics unicorn Rivigo of its B2B express business to Mahindra Logistics at discount price and second, SoftBank starting off its layoffs across the globe.
These events will have a bearing on the startup ecosystem coupled with the fact that central banks across the world are tightening their money supply to curb rising inflation rates. This will impact the money inflow into startups.
Now, the question remains: How long will funding winter last for the startups in India?
As the absence of large infusion of capital dampens the spirit of the ecosystem, the only silver lining appears to be that early stage investment continues to see traction, though not at the pace what was seen last year.
Transactions
Molbio Diagnostics raised $85 million from Temasek and Motilal Oswal Alternates at a valuation of $1.6 billion.
Digital banking infrastructure provider Signzy raised Rs 210 crore (around $26 million) from Gaja Capital, Vertex Ventures and Arkam Ventures.
Biotech firm Elucidata raised $16 million from Eight Roads Ventures, F-Prime Capital, IvyCap Ventures and Hyperplane Venture Capital.
