PWC: Startup funding in first half of 2023 lowest in 4 years

BENGALURU: Investment in Indian startups in the first half (H1) of the current calendar year was the lowest in the last four years, a report on startups by PwC India says. The funding in

H1

this year was $3.8 billion across 298 deals, which is a 36% decline as compared to the same period last calendar year ($5.9 billion).
Fintech, SaaS and D2C (direct to consumer) continued to be the most funded sectors in H1 this year, the report says.
Growth- and late-stage funding deals accounted for 84% of the funding activity (in value terms). These represented 43% of the total count of deals in this period. The average ticket size in growth-stage deals was $19 million and late-stage deals was $52 million. During the last few quarters, investors have shown strong support for their portfolio companies by doubling down on their investments in companies that demonstrated growth, the report stated.
Amit Nawka, partner, deals and India Startups leader in PwC India, said, “There is a slowdown in

startup

funding despite significant untapped capital reserves held by VCs. Active VC firms in India have secured new funds in the past year and we can expect the pace of investments to pick up in the next few months.”

Bengaluru, NCR, and Mumbai continue to be the key startup cities in India.