ETtech Deals Digest: Indian startups suffer from funding frostbite, raise $5.5 billion in the first half of 2023

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

The funding landscape for startups witnessed a 72% drop compared to the previous year. In H1 2022, $19.5 billion was raised across 1,576 funding rounds. And in comparison to the second half of 2022, when the funding winter took hold, investments have further declined by 23%.

During H2 2022, startups secured $7.1 billion in funding. The funding slowdown was secular, as it was evident across all stages, from seed to late stage. During the first half of 2023, investments at the seed stage amounted to $352 million, spread across 386 rounds.

However, this figure marked a significant decline of 65% when compared to the $1 billion that startups received in seed funding during the corresponding period in 2022. Similarly, early-stage startups faced a funding setback, with $1.3 billion raised across 124 rounds in H1 2023. This represented a substantial decline of 73% compared to the $5.1 billion secured across 347 rounds in H1 2022.

Late-stage funding bore the brunt of the slowdown, as startups managed to secure $3.77 billion across 40 rounds in the first half of 2023. This amount reflected a significant drop of 71% compared to the $13.12 billion raised by startups in late-stage investments during H1 2022, spread across 157 rounds. Notably, the Indian startup ecosystem, which saw the emergence of 19 new unicorns in the first half of 2022, is yet to see one this year.