India Gets 3 New Unicorns In Q3 2024 As Startup Funding, Mega Deals Soar

While the Indian startup ecosystem saw muted funding trends in the first half (H1) of 2024, the funding picked up pace in the third quarter (Q3) of the year. During July-September period of 2024, the total funding raised by homegrown startups shot up 100% on a year-on-year basis to $3.4 Bn, as per Inc42’s ‘Indian Tech Startup Funding Report, Q3 2024’ report.

A major driver of this growth was the significant uptick in late stage funding. During the three-month period, the startup ecosystem saw 10 startups pocket cheques north of $100 Mn. In fact, the number of mega deals during the quarter were the highest since Q2 2022. 

The period saw Zepto, PhysicsWallah, Rapido, OYO, Whatfix, Purplle, Drip Capital, BlueStone, M2P Fintech, and InMobi raise over $100 Mn in a single round. 

The jump in mega deals also translated to more startups attaining the unicorn tag in the September quarter. Three startups entered the unicorn club in July-September period as against three startups in the first half of 2024.

Interestingly, the most recent entry to the unicorn club, fintech startup Moneyview raised a mere $4.6 Mn in equity funding from Accel India and Nexus Ventures at a valuation of $1.2 Bn. 

Just a few days prior to Moneyview, ride hailing startup Rapido raised $200 Mn in its Series E funding round at a valuation of $1.1 Bn. 

Prior to Rapido, EV major Ather Energy bagged $71 Mn from existing investor National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) at a post-money valuation of  $1.3 Bn in August. Following that, the two-wheeler manufacturer filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI for an INR 3,100 Cr IPO. 

It is pertinent to note that three startups – Bhavish Aggarwal-led Krutrim, fintech SaaS startup Perfios, and travel tech SaaS startup RateGain – entered the unicorn club in the first six months of the year. 

On the back of the spurt in mega deals, late stage startup funding zoomed 115% to $2.1 Bn in the September quarter from the $984 Mn raised in the year-ago period. With 40 deals, the Indian startup ecosystem also saw a 135% increase in the late stage deal count. 

Notably, the number of mega deals in Q3 2024 was 42% higher than the seven deals in the first half of 2024. In H1 2024, late stage startups cumulatively bagged $2.7 Bn, 18% lower than the $3.3 Bn raised in the first half of 2023. 

Overall, Indian startups cumulatively raised funding of $5.3 Bn in the first six months of 2024, down 1.8% from $5.4 Bn in H1 2023. 

Despite late stage funding seeing a decline in the first six months, seed and growth stage funding saw a notable increase. While seed stage funding zoomed 23% to $589 Mn in H1 2024 from $479 Mn a year ago, growth-stage funding rose 21% to $1.7 Bn from $1.4 Mn in H1 2023. 

Seed and growth stage funding continued H1’s momentum in Q3 2024. Seed stage startups bagged $360 Mn via 125 deals in the September quarter, up 126% from $159 Mn raised via 129 deals in the year-ago period. Similarly, startups at growth stage raised $847 Mn through 65 deals in Q3, a jump of 91% from $443 Mn raised through 32 deals in the September quarter of 2023.