Domestic Investors Now Turning To Unlisted Startups: Shiprocket’s Vishesh Khurana

With the funding activity gaining momentum across the Indian startup ecosystem, a host of domestic investors are now looking to back unlisted startups, especially when some of the listed firms scored strong performance in the last 3-4 years, according to logistics unicorn Shiprocket’s cofounder Vishesh Khurana. 

Khurana, who is leading the US-based venture capital (VC) firm Tribe Capital’s maiden India fund, was speaking with Inc42’s cofounder Vaibhav Vardhan at MoneyX today (September 26).  

However, as the startup investments are typically risker with valuations changing very frequently, Sharma believes that startup investments should give at least% more returns than the public market due to illiquidity and higher risks.

Notably, the Indian public market is currently bullish– with many companies riding the wave and going for initial public offerings (IPOs). The latest ones mulling to go public are Swiggy, Mobikwik, Ather Energy, among others. 

Commenting on the trend, Khurana noted that currently many investors believe that the Indian public markets are currently overvalued. According to him, some of the investors are now looking to diversify their holdings

It is pertinent to note that Indian startups cumulatively raised $5.3 Bn in the first half (H1) of 2024 as against $5.4 Bn raised in the first six months of 2023.

In an Inc42 survey, over 90% of startup investors said they expect a funding revival in H2 2024.

Unlike H1 2023, when funding raised by Indian startups cratered 72% year-on-year (YoY), the decline in numbers was a mere 2% YoY in the first six months of the ongoing calendar year.

Also, two startups turned unicorn in H1 2024 (Rapido became the third unicorn of the year in July) whereas the same number of startups (Zepto and InCred) entered the coveted club in the entire 2023. Additionally, the total funding raised by the Indian startup ecosystem since 2014 touched the $150 Bn mark during the first six-month period of 2024.