Indian startups raised $4 billion in the third quarter of 2024 across multiple funding rounds

Indian startup ecosystem saw an impressive shift in funding trends for the third quarter of 2024. The funding exceeds the total amount raised in the first quarter of this year. The startup ecosystem saw several deals including multiple transactions over $300 million and $200 million with secondary market activity and IPO rounds. The startups raised around 4 billion USD in the September quarter of this year. The funding rounds by early-stage startups highlight the strong comeback and investor confidence, making this one of the most successful quarters.

The startup data intelligence platform, thekredible mentioned that Indian startups have approximately raised $4.08 billion in funding for Q3 2024.  This funding amount includes 85 growth-stage and late-stage deals accounting for $3.3 billion of the total amount raised. The startup ecosystem in the country saw a total of 32 deals and 40 fund launches. Around 207 early-stage deals raised $74.26 million. The startup landscape saw three new emerging unicorns in the third quarter: Ather, Moneyview, and Rapido. This makes the total number of unicorn turned startups to be around six.  

Growth stage deals from july to september 2024

The major funding rounds for the third quarter of this year across growth-stage deals include the e-commerce startup Zepto’s $340 million series F funding round led by existing investors including General Catalyst. The fintech firm DMI Finance also secured $334 million in its series F funding round from MUFG and others. Physics Wallah is an edtech startup that secured 210 million USD in its series B funding round from Hornbill Capital. 

The ride-hailing platform Rapido secured $200 million and entered fourth place in the top 10 growth stage deals. The automotive tech startup raised 200 million USD at a valuation of $1.1 billion from WestBridge Capital during its series E funding round. The prop-tech startup, Oyo raised $175 million in its series G funding round from Patient Capital at a valuation of $2.38 billion. All top 10 growth-stage startups reported over $100 million raised each including Whatflix, Purplle, Drip Capital, M2P Fintech, and InMobi.

Early-stage deals in the third quarter of 2024

The renewable energy startup, BluPine led the early-stage startup deals with a funding round of $28.8 million from Tata Capital in its series A funding round. The Artificial Intelligence firm Nutrix AI followed behind with $27.5 million secured in its seed and ongoing series A funding round from General Catalysts with the participation of Accel. EV startup, Kinetic Green received an investment of $25 million from Greater Pacific Capital in its series A funding round. Another EV firm Simple Energy also raised $20 million across its series A round from several investors. 

The healthtech company, Even Healthcare raised 20 million USD at a valuation of $91 million from Khosla Ventures and others in its fresh funding round. The fintech platform, Centricity secured $20 million from Lightspeed Ventures in its seed funding round. Centricity provides innovative financial solutions and advisory via its online platform. The e-commerce platform Newme also raised $18 million in its funding round led by Accel. While Stable Money secured $15 million from RTP Capital at a valuation of $55 million. 

Mergers and acquisitions 

The third quarter saw an increased graph for mergers and acquisitions. The startup data intelligence platform, thekredible reported that this quarter saw 54 mergers and acquisitions deals. The combined Merging deals for the Q1 and Q2 are around 55 deals. The prop tech firm OYO had the top acquisition for the third quarter. The company acquired G6 Hospitality for 525 million USD. The food tech major Zomato was second on the list as it acquired Paytm’s movie and business worth 244 million USD. The hospitality unicorn, OYO also bought shares of Checkmyguest worth $27.4 million to merge their technologies and customer base while strengthening its position in the hospitality market. 

Nazara Technologies acquired Pokerbazzi and Kiddopia. The Bengaluru-based diagnostic startup, Celera Diagnostics was acquired for $7 million by the healthtech firm Redcliffe Labs. The company passed a resolution to buy its stakes in the startup through an all-cash transaction deal. HomeLans also bought shares of Design Café and Radio Mirchi’s parent company ENIL acquired the music platform Gaana. This investment will enable both companies to combine resources and increase their client base.

City-wise top 10 deals in the third quarter of 2023

Bengaluru led the list with 122 startups raising around 1.38 billion USD in funding across multiple rounds accounting for 34 percent of the total funding for the September quarter. The Delhi-NCR startups came second in the list with 91 startups securing 1.3 billion USD holding 32 percent of the total funding. Mumbai followed closely with 64 startups followed by Hyderabad with 14 deals, Chennai with 12, and Pune reported 11 startup deals. Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Pune contributed 21 percent of the total funding in the last quarter. 

Stage-wise deals 

The early-stage startups saw significant investment, with seed-stage and pre-seed-stage rounds raising a total of $168 million across 138 deals. These stages represent the beginning of a startup’s journey, where funding is critical for product development and market entry. Meanwhile, Series A funding, which helps startups scale their operations, saw 73 deals, indicating continued investor interest in more established startups. Additionally, 37 deals were made in the pre-Series A stage, often used to bridge the gap between early seed funding and larger Series A investments.

The startup data intelligence platform, thekredible mentioned that debt financing which also played a role in the startup ecosystem saw 23 debt funding rounds, which secured $314 million. The debt rounds accounted for 7.72 percent of the total funds raised in the startup landscape. Debt funding allows companies to borrow capital without diluting ownership, providing an alternative for startups looking to maintain control while raising capital for growth.

Sectors in the third quarter of 2024

The agritech sector uses advanced technology to improve agriculture. This sector continues to struggle to raise funds. It remained the least funded sector this year. By September, 30 agritech startups raised a total of $150 million across multiple funding rounds. This amount is lower than last year’s $178 million and shows a significant drop compared to the $772 million raised in 2022. The declining interest in the agritech sector highlights the lack of investor interest. 

On the other hand, the wealthtech sector, which uses financial technology to help people manage and grow their wealth, saw rapid growth. This sector has benefited from the rise of digital platforms, making it easier for users to access and invest in financial products. The startup data intelligence platform, thekredible mentioned that venture capitalists are showing strong interest in wealthtech. Indian wealthtech startups raised around $100 million across just five deals in the third quarter of 2024. This highlights that wealthtech is becoming a preferred sector for investors, as it shows strong growth potential in a tech-driven world.

The fintech sector was the top contributor for the funding for the third quarter of this year with 61 startups raising over 1.15 billion USD. E-commerce, healthtech, AI, and SaaS startups followed the list. The edtech sector raised around 233 million USD across multiple deals. While the Agritech sector only contributed 1.39 percent of the total fundraising. The EV sector accounted for 5 percent of overall funding.

Debt funding and deals 

Debt funding before listing is the common approach in IPO-bound companies. In the first half of 2024, several well-known startups, like Electrics, Mobikwik, and Bluestone, chose this approach and secured debt investments to support their growth. Indian startups had an increase in the number of deals compared to 111 deals in August to 117 deals in September. This month remained the second highest month for funding raised following $1.92 billion raised in June across 112 deals. This rise in deals shows growing investor interest in startups. This data suggests that despite challenges in some sectors, the overall startup ecosystem in India is showing strong growth and activity in 2024.

Conclusion :

Indian startup ecosystem saw a two-times increase in investments for the third quarter of this year as compared to the last quarter of 2024. Indian startups raised $4 billion in funding across 352 deals. The growth-stage startups raised $3.3 billion across 85 deals in Q3 2024. However, the early-stage startups raised $754.26 million across 207 deals. The startup ecosystem saw three new unicorns: Ather, MoneyView, and Rapido. The major funding round for this year’s third quarter was a $340 million round from Zepto led by General Catalysts. DMI Finance secured $334 million in its series F funding round. The edtech startup Physics Wallah secured $210 million at a valuation of $2.8 billion from Hornbill Capital in its series B funding round. 

Bengaluru was the top contributor with 122 startups securing 1.38 billion USD and accounting for 34 percent of the total funding. Followed by Delhi NCR raising 1.3 billion USD across 91 deals and holding 32 percent of the overall amount. Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, and Chennai are net of the list. This geographical concentration shows that these cities remain the central hubs for India’s startup ecosystem.