The capital drought continued to create considerable headwinds for the Indian startup ecosystem in 2023 as well, putting a dampener on funding raised by new-age tech companies and slowing down the launch of new ventures.
Funding secured by startups hit a seven-year-low in 2023, backsliding to 2017 levels. As per Inc42 data, Indian startups raised a mere $10 Bn across 897 deals last year, down from the $13 Bn raised across 996 deals in 2017. As evitable, the YoY investor participation in startup funding deals also witnessed a major decline.
However, a majority of entrepreneurs who participated in Inc42’s founders’ survey 2023 opined that funding troubles could start to taper off to some extent in the second half of 2024. And this optimism is not without a reason. Despite multiple challenges, India maintained its position as the third-largest global tech startup ecosystem, boasting more than 68,000 startups and 9,700-plus investors.
Not just this, Indian startups have created more than 10 Lakh jobs in the past decade. And it is this sense of optimism that investors are banking on to capture the next big thing in the Indian startup ecosystem.
Also, what could come in handy is the $23 Bn worth of funds that were raised between 2021 and 2023. Interestingly, a significant portion of these funds are still waiting to be deployed as more than one-third of investors failed to allocate even 50% of their startup fund corpus.
While this is the future outlook, what is important is to look at the investors that navigated the adverse market conditions last year to announce a substantial number of deals. These investors stood out for their unwavering faith in the Indian startup ecosystem and continued to instil a sense of confidence among the stakeholders.
With that said, we bring you the list of the top startup investors of 2023.
Note: This ranking is based on data consolidated from Inc42’s Investor Ranking & Sentiment Surveys [2023, H1 2023 & Q3 2023], and deals recorded in the Inc42 database.
In 2023, AngelList India completed 180 deals, recording the highest deal count in the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem. During the year, the angel network backed healthtech startup CareFi, fintech startup EquityList, homegrown beer brand Proost Beer, and hyperlocal over-the-top (OTT) platform STAGE, just to count a few.
Founded in 2009 by Naval Ravikant, AngelList lets investors contribute as little as $1,000 alongside accredited backers through investment syndicates. It rolled out an India-focussed venture and angel fund in 2019.
AngelList introduced the concept of a rolling fund in the US in 2020, providing an innovative alternative to the traditional VC model. This approach aimed to streamline the process for emerging venture capitalists, offering them a quicker route to initiate and finalise their initial deals.
LetsVenture announced 159 deals in 2023. Some prominent names in which it invested during the year are the parent company of the restaurant supply chain management startup SupplyNote, Adcount Technologies; homegrown quick service restaurant chain Burger Singh; D2C beauty and personal care startup Clensta, and full stack battery platform The Energy Company, among others.
Founded in 2013 by Shanti Mohan and Sanjay Jha, LetsVenture is a startup investment marketplace that allows investors to explore and invest in startups through its proprietary technology platform. It facilitates startups seeking funding to develop investment-ready profiles on the internet and establish connections with accredited investors.
LetsVenture is backed by investors such as Ratan Tata, Nandan Nilekani, Mohandas Pai, Rishaad Premji, Shaadi.com cofounder Anupam Mittal, Freshworks founder Girish Mathrubootham, Snapdeal’s Kunal Bahl, and PhonePe founder Sameer Nigam.
The firm boasts a robust network comprising over 34,000 startups and 18,000 investors. Its portfolio startups claim a combined valuation of $9.6 Bn
The most active venture debt investor of 2023, Stride Ventures, announced 110 deals in 2023. Some of the most prominent startups that it during the year are fintech unicorn Slice, cloud kitchen unicorn Rebel Foods, fintech startup OneStack, and mobility startup Chalo.
Founded in 2019 by Ishpreet Gandhi, the Delhi-based venture debt firm invests in startups working in diverse sectors such as fintech, agritech, B2B commerce, healthtech, B2B SaaS, mobility and energy solutions.
The fund has invested in over 100 startups across sectors such as consumer internet, SaaS, fintech, and B2B platforms. Some of its portfolio companies include SUGAR Cosmetics, Mensa Brands, Exotel, The Good Glamm Group, Yubi, HealthifyMe, Ace Turtle, Rebel Foods, and Waycool.
In 2023, Stride Ventures announced the first close of its third debt fund at $100 Mn. The firm was targeting a final close of more than $200 Mn for the fund, which is backed by institutional investors, including banks, insurance companies, and family offices.
The fund aims at making prudent investments in fast-growing startups that exhibit robust business models, strong unit economics, and skilled management teams.
Another venture debt firm, Mumbai-headquartered Alteria Capital announced 107 deals in 2023. During the year, the venture debt firm provided capital to B2B marketplace Jumbotail, D2C jewellery startup Giva, ecommerce roll-up unicorn Mensa, ebike manufacturer EMotorad, and D2C backpack startup Mokobara, among others.
The fund was started in 2017 by Ajay Hattangdi and Vinod Murali, who served Silicon Valley Bank India in various leadership roles. Alteria Capital is a venture debt fund focussed on innovative startups backed by large VC firms.
Currently, Alteria Capital is looking to raise $80 Mn to $100 Mn for the shorter duration scheme of its third fund. This will take the aggregate capital pool of Fund 3 to $275 Mn to $300 Mn.
The fund will support fintech, consumer, and B2B platforms, especially those with liquidity needs for inventory build-up, receivables and book debts
Angel investment networking platform We Founder Circle announced 103 deals in 2023. It backed coliving startup Settl, SaaS platform TestNTrack, coworking marketplace Stylework, among others, during the year.
Founded in 2020 by Gaurav Sanghavi, Neeraj Tyagi, Bhawna Bhatnagar, Deo Saurabh and Vikas Aggarwal, We Founder Circle has backed over 70 homegrown startups to date. It has a wide network of 6,500 investors across 40 countries.
Last year, We Founder Circle launched the Invstt app to simplify the entire angel investing process — from discovery and evaluation to investment transactions and portfolio management.
In December, We Founder Circle’s GIFT City Fund raised $10 Mn and onboarded over 250 investors. The fund focusses on offering startup investors the ability to invest globally without geographical restrictions.
In 2023, the early-stage VC firm 100X.VC closed 62 deals, backing startups such as the same-day delivery service platform Pikndel, the social app for cricket enthusiasts Offside, and the analytics and infrastructure-as-a-service firm Roopya.
Founded in 2019 by Sanjay Mehta, Ninad Karpe, Shashank Randev, Yagnesh Sanghrajka, and Vatsal Kanakiya, 100X.VC is a sector-agnostic fund that invests in early stage startups.
In October, 100X.VC announced a new portfolio of 15 startups that it funded through Class 10. The Sanjay-Mehta-led firm invested $160K per startup, translating to a total investment of about $2.3 Mn through iSAFE notes.
For its tenth cohort, 100X.VC shortlisted startups from a pool of more than 2,000 applications covering a wide spectrum of industries, including fintech, climate tech, and B2B SaaS.
Mumbai-based VC firm ah! Ventures backed 55 deals in 2023 and participated in funding rounds of startups such as Suniel Shetty-backed Klassroom Edutech, healthtech startup FlexifyMe, deeptech startup Twyn, and medtech startup Helo Health, among others.
Founded by Harshod Lahoti, Abhijeet Kumar, ah! Ventures is a curated sector-agnostic fundraising platform for early stage startups raising funds up to $10 Mn. The Mumbai-based firm has backed several early-stage startups across sectors, including FlexifyMe, CarEasy, and Sugar Watchers.
It began investing in 2012-13 and has since participated in over 140 deals totalling about INR 286 Cr. Typically, it enters the early stages of investment with a cheque size of INR 3-3.5 Cr.
Last year, Ah! Ventures onboarded three new venture partners to its team. The new members include Mukul Jain from Redbrick Capital Advisors, ProGrowth Ventures and Viraj Shah.
Acquired by 360 ONE, an alternate investment firm, in January 2023, Mumbai Angels Network closed 55 deals in 2023. During the year, it has backed startups such as the personal care startup Cleansta, the Delhi-based startup Proost Beer, the online learning platform ixamBee, and the cold supply chain startup Celcius.
Founded in 2006, Mumbai Angels Network invests in early stage startups in India. Over the years, it has backed a multitude of startups such as Adsparx, Adonmo, and BabyChakra, just to count a few.
In January 2023, alternate investment firm 360 ONE, previously known as IIFL Wealth & Asset Management, finalised the acquisition of a controlling stake in Mumbai Angels. Alongside this acquisition, Mumbai Angels also unveiled two new funds – an INR 1,000 Cr angel fund and an INR 300 Cr VC fund.
The angel fund offers flexibility to investors as well as startups, while the second fund will enable investors to participate in every deal on Mumbai Angels. The angel fund treats each investment as a separate scheme and offers flexibility to investors as well as startups. Therefore, investors can invest in a large number of deals while startups would have a lean cap table.
Startup accelerator Marwari Catalysts participated in 50 deals in 2023. Over the years, it has backed Jaipur Watch Company, UR Turms, and Bank Sathi, among others.
Founded in 2019, Marwari Catalysts is a swiftly growing startup acceleratorIndore Stock. With a focus on untapped Tier II and Tier III cities, MCats uplifts economies through its startup acceleration programme, Thrive, which is designed to help startups navigate and succeed in the dynamic business landscape.
The Indian Angel Network (IAN) announced 38 deals in 2023. It backed startups across emerging sectorsVaranasi Investment. Additionally, it led funding rounds for the spacetech startup Manastu Space and the cybersecurity startup SecurWeave.
IAN was launched in 2006 by Ruparel, Srivastava and Raman Roy to help angel investors come together to back early stage startups.
Last year, IAN announced the first close of its second venture capital fund at INR 355 Cr ($42.5 Mn). The fund has a target corpus of INR 1,000 Cr ($119 Mn). Moreover, IAN also appointed Sarika Saxena as the managing partner of IAN Alpha Fund, its venture capital fund.
IAN said it would invest in early stage startups across sectors like cleantech, healthtech, fintech, deeptech, spacetech, consumer, agritech, cybersecurity, hardware and robotics from the second fund.
Note: This ranking is based on data consolidated from Inc42’s Investor Ranking & Sentiment Surveys [2023, H1 2023 & Q3 2023], and deals recorded in the Inc42 database.
Hyderabad Investment