Indian startups raised $8.4 bn in Q1, 2022; India ranks 4th globally with 96 unicorns

India’s startups raised $8.4 billion in Q1, 2022(January- April 5), a 22 per cent growth year-on-year (YOY) compared to the corresponding period last year, data sourced from Tracxn by Business Today revealed.

A total of 470 funding rounds happened during the quarter, relatively less than 651 funding rounds during Q1, 2021 when the startups raised $6.89 billion.

This also indicates that Q1, 2021 has seen big-ticket deals across the ecosystem, especially late-stage funding rounds. The average deal value of some of the top rounds during Q1 varied between $100-$200 million.
 
In terms of global unicorn ranking, India is currently placed at the fourth position with 96 unicorns (startups with valuations of a billion-dollar and more).

Globally, there are 1,979 unicorns out of which the US alone is home to 1,036 followed by China (252) and the United Kingdom (UK) with 100 unicorns.
 
During Q1, 2021, India minted 10 unicorns double the number of startups that turned unicorns in the corresponding period last year.  

In terms of sectors, the investors were bullish on multiple segments from home décor, lending, ed-tech to social commerce, indicating a  marked shift from the earlier trends in startup investments when investments poured largely into fintech, ed-tech sectors.
 
The ten unicorns which were minted in Q1, 2021 included LEAD School,(that provides curriculum to affordable schools along with other software and services), Darwinbox(Cloud-based human resource management software firm), Dealshare (Online social deal sharing platform for multi-category products), Livspace(Provider of online in-home designs and furniture for home improvement), Elasticrun (Platform offering distribution networks for rural markets), Xpressbees(Provider of e-commerce fulfillment solutions), Hasura (Cloud-based GraphQL API development platform), CredAvenue (Cloud-based lending solution for banks and credit institutions), Oxyzo (Online marketplace for business credit lines), and Games 24 7 (Developer of casual video games).