Once burnt, investors curb enthusiasm for Indian startups
Investors, once eager to pump in billions of dollars in promising Indian tech ventures, are now going slow and cutting smaller cheques. They've been burnt by ignominious falls from grace — and valuations — for once-marquee young firms or market debutants of recent years such as digital payments company Paytm.
Elevate Your Tech Prowess with High-Value Skill Courses
Offering CollegeCourseWebsiteIIM KozhikodeIIMK Advanced Data Science For ManagersVisitMITMIT Technology Leadership and InnovationVisitIIT DelhiIITD Certificate Programme in Data Science & Machine LearningVisit Karthik Reddy, managing partner at India's Blume Ventures, which has invested in hundreds of early-stage startups, said his firm plans to do about eight new deals this year compared with 12 last year. It will invest bigger sums in firms it is confident about instead of spreading funds across more companies.
«When your existing portfolio is not showing gains, it is hard to be excited to do more,» he told Reuters.
Investors looking at Indian startups are much more focused on potential profitability, less enamoured with tech companies and more interested in stable brick-and-mortar businesses, according to Reuters interviews with six executives at foreign and domestic investment firms as well as two CEOs at startups.
In January and February, India's startups raised about $900 million — a pace that signals another slow year after a six-year low of just $8 billion in 2023, Venture Intelligence data shows.
That's a far cry from the record $36 billion
