2015 Will Fare Better Than 2014 For The Indian VC Industry

Just like during the salmon-spawning season in the Katmai National Park in Alaska, when the Alaskan bears feast on the abundant supply of salmons, the venture capital funds are flooding in the country. According to the latest factsheet on Indian venture capital released by Preqin – a source of data and intelligence for the alternative assets industry, there are 103 India-based venture capital fund managers in the country. Together, they closed 14 fundraising rounds in 2014, valued at $2.2 Bn.

This year, as of August 21, 10 India-centric VC fundraising rounds have been raised, valued at $1.4 Bn. The statistics suggest that 2015 will surpass last year’s numbers – suggesting a healthy startup ecosystem and a thriving VC industry.

Post August, there have been some other significant fundraising events. Most recently, Kalaari Capital raised $290 Mn India-centric fund from the same group of institutional investors as its earlier funds. Earlier this month, as we reported, Sequoia Capital India plans to raise about $800 Mn for its fifth India-centric fund. Japan’s Beenos Group also launched $60 Mn fund to invest in early-stage startups in India, Southeast Asia, Japan and the US, this month.

The report also states that the largest ever Indian venture capital deal in the country was the $1 Bn Series G funding of Flipkart in 2014. This year, the number of VC deals struck in the country was over 500 and amounts to over $6 Bn. Last year, over 450 VC deals were struck and were valued close to $4.5 Bn. This number has been steadily growing since 2009, when the number of deals were closed to 110 and valued a little over half a billion dollars. The aggregate deal value witnessed a 200 percent increase between 2013 and 2014 – around $1.5 Bn in 2013 to close to $4.5 Bn in 2014.

The report also claims that the largest ever India-focused VC funds closed in the country is Sequoia Capital India IV by Sequoia Capital – with a fund size of $740 Mn and closed in 2014. Sequoia India Growth Fund II is next in line with a fund size of $725 Mn and closed in 2008. Samridhi Fund of SIDBI Venture Capital comes in third at $718 Mn and closed in 2014.

The top three India-based VC investors in the country, based on their aggregate transaction size, between 2007 and August 21, 2015 are Nexus Venture Partners, SAIF Partners India and Kalaari Capital– with aggregate transaction sizes of $1,562 Mn, $1,141 Mn and $843 Mn, respectively.

All the top three VC rounds in India, since 2007, were raised by Flipkart – Series G worth $1000 Mn in July -14, Series H worth $700 Mn in Dec -14 and an unspecified round worth $700 Mn in July -15. The fourth largest deal was an unspecified round worth $635 Mn, raised by One97 Communications in January 2015.