Start-up funding in April 2023 saw a 60 per cent drop (in value) as compared to March 2023 and an 89 per cent drop in comparison to April 2022, according to data shared by Venture Intelligence.
In terms of volumes, the Indian start-up ecosystem recorded 46 deals in April as compared to 50 deals in March 2023 and 110 deals in April 2022.
The total funding raised by start-ups in April 2023 stood at $340 million as compared to $855 million raised in March 2023 and $2.9 billion in April 2022.
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April did not see any $100+ million funding deals as compared to two such deals recorded in the previous month. The majority of the funding volume was recorded in the early stage Seed (25) and Series A (12) rounds in April.
Sector coverage
In terms of sectors, enterprise software, fintech, healthcare, AI/ML, e-commerce, and cleantech saw funding activity this month. Out of which, enterprise software recorded the highest number of deals (seven), with a total value of $36 million.
Further, the start-up ecosystem recorded nine merger and acquisition deals with a total deal value of $258 million. This is a drop in both deal volumes and value as compared to March 2023 when the ecosystem saw 13 M&A deals with a value of $575 million.
One major acquisition deal in April was the acquisition of DMI Finance by Japan’s MUFG bank for $165 million. It should be noted that two acquisition deals in April did not disclose their deal amount and hence Venture Intelligence data does not include those values.
Venture debt has also emerged as an important asset class in the ongoing funding winter.
In April, there were three venture debt deals with a total value of $15 million as compared to four such deals in March with a value of $114 million and 1 deal of $2 million in April 2022.
This data only includes the investments made by six venture debt firms including Trifecta Capital, InnoVen Capital, Alteria Capital, Anicut Capital, Stride Ventures, and BlackSoil Capital.