Funding Surge: Indian Startups See 20% Increase, Reaching $12 Billion This Year

Indian startup ecosystem got a funding booster this year by raising more than $12 billion, which is a 20 per cent jump from last year's $10 billion.

While late-stage funding surged 25 per cent to more than $7 billion in 2024, growth-stage startups secured $3.5 billion in 282 deals, according to 'Annual Funding Report 2024' by startup coverage portal Inc42.

Early-stage startups remain the biggest beneficiaries this year. Early-stage startups cumulative amounts raised $893m that was up 31 per cent year-on-year in 433 deals.
The report showed that the fintech sector raised $2.5bn across 162 deals while enterprise tech and the consumer services sectors secured equal $1.8bn for each.

In the second half (H2) of 2024, the tech startups received $5.32 billion across 540 funding rounds, a growth of 8 per cent from H2 2023 where $4.92 billion was raised across 890 rounds, according to Tracxn data.

India’s tech ecosystem witnessed the emergence of six unicorns in 2024, marking a 200 per cent increase compared to 2 unicorns in 2023.

Zepto, a quick commerce platform in itself, had raised around $1.3 billion in 2024 in three rounds.

This year, 13 new-age companies launched their initial public offerings (IPOs), as startups cumulatively raised more than Rs 29,200 crore from the stock market. When it comes to IPOs, this figure was at 10 in 2021, six in 2022 and six in 2023.

Startup IPOs: The names include TAC Security, Unicommerce, MobiKwik, TBO Tek, Ixigo, Trust Fintech, FirstCry, Menhood, Awfis, Swiggy, Digit Insurance, Blackbuck, and Ola Electric.

Among the biggest IPOs in the startup arena was online food ordering company Swiggy. The former fetched Rs 11,327.43 crore by way of the issue, with shares getting listed at the stock exchange at a price of Rs 420, bearing a premium of 7.69 per cent.

At least 157,066 startups have been recognized by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) till date and 759,303 users are registered on the portal (as on December 25).

The country now has more than 73,000 startups with at least one-woman director that have been recognized under the 'Startup India Initiative', according to latest government data.