Inc42 And Amazon Launch ‘Over The Horizon’: Turning The Spotlight On India’s Unsung Investors

The Indian startup ecosystem is going places and how. With more than 50,000 startups — technology startups alone make up one-fourth of this list — India is perched on the third rung of the global ladder of startup ecosystems. Understandably, it has become the cynosure of the investor eye the world over.

Point in case: The landmark $16 Bn Walmart-Flipkart deal — the largest deal in the history of ecommerce in the world — which was finalised in May this year. The super high-value exit that this deal accorded to investors further boosted the already-soaring investor confidence in Indian startups.

Investors both big and small in Indian as well as international, are making a beeline for India, reinforcing their confidence in the ecosystem. In H1 2018, more than $3 Bn was invested across 372 deals in Indian startups, with the participation of 551 Investors. In 2017 alone, Indian startups raked in a total funding of $13.5 Bn, with just four big-ticket deals pulling in more than $1 Bn. Five new unicorns — Paytm Ecommerce, Policybazaar, Byju’s, Swiggy, OYO — have been added to the Indian startup ecosystem so far this year.

H1 2018 Deals: The Big Four

• Digital payments giant Paytm secures $445 Mn for Paytm Mall
• Food delivery startup Swiggy raises $310 Mn in two rounds
• Music streaming service Gaana.com raises $115 Mn
• Fintech startup PineLabs rakes in $125 Mn

Enter: The New VC

Most of you have heard the big names in international circles — SoftBank, Sequoia Capital, Accel Partners IDG Ventures India, Qualcomm Ventures, Naspers, SAIF Partners, Softbank Capital , Eight Roads Ventures, Tiger Global, — some of which have Indian arms scouting for promising startups. Then there are the big Indian names such as Blume Ventures, Kalaari Capital, Inventus Capital, DSG Consumer Partners and Nexus Venture Partners who are betting big on Indian startups.

What you haven’t heard of is the unsung network of investors, who are working tirelessly in the background, supporting Indian startups by investing in them.

While you may not have heard of them, we have. At Inc42, we track not only the news and the newsmakers. We also create newsmakers, by digging out stories hidden deep in the Indian startup ecosystem — The Ecosystem Summit coming on November 16 is an effort in this direction.

But naturally, we are privy to the commendable work being done by these lesser-known investors to pivot the Indian startup ecosystem to greater heights.

In a bid to celebrate these unsung heroes, Inc42, in association with Amazon Internet Services Private Limited (AISPL), the local seller for AWS Cloud in India, is launching ‘Over The Horizon’, a five-part series on Inc42 that puts the spotlight on investors who are lesser known. The series will do this by way of deep-dive and insightful interviews.

If you are one such investor body and feel you have a story to share with us — a story of how you’ve been working in the backdrop, bringing Indian startups a little closer to living their dream — here’s a chance to get featured in ‘Over The Horizon’.