Venture capital investing

Venture capital investing We have done an analysis of the current trends in venture capital investing in India.

We have used data published by the firm venture intelligence.com

Let us look at key highlights: 1. In July 2016 venture capital investors funded 49 deals worth US $330 million to Indian startups.

2. This is the second highest in 2016 both in terms of volume (no. of deals) and value.

3. 9 out of the 49 deals were each worth US $10 million or more.

4. This figure is just marginally lower than the high of 10 such deals in January 2016

5. During July 2016 the 3 largest deals were: the US $30 Million Series D round raised by e-jeweler Bluestone; the US $20 Million Series B attracted by SME financier Lending kart; and the US $15 Million Series A round for preventive healthcare firm Cure fit.

6. From a sectoral point of view, investors also chose to back more companies in the consumer focused themes - compared to the focus on B2B (business to business) as well as Enterprise Software and Education sectors in 2015

7. When one adds the US $82 million investment in 15+ years old online event ticketing firm Bookmyshow.com (which also chalked up US-based Growth Capital focused Stripes Group's first India deal) were to be added, then the return of interest to consumer targeting companies gets even more pronounced.

8. The list of VC investors who were active in July was quite diverse as well and included new entrants as well as the traditional investors viz; Family Offices

9. From a country of origin point of view, the India-focused investments arm of Germany-headquartered Bertelsmann led the two of the three largest VC investments - Lending kart and the $17 Million Series B round for hotels aggregator Treebo. Russia conglomerate Sistema, via its Asia Fund, led the $10 Million Series D round for loyalty cards firm QwikCilver.

10. For the latest entrant - JSW Ventures, the Venture Capital arm of Indian conglomerate JSW Group (which is into Steel, Cement & Power), chose beauty products & services startup Purplle for its maiden investment

11. Data also clearly shows that “bridge funding� deals are increasing.

12. In the month of July 2016, 6 start-ups have reported bridge funding rounds marking a spike in the number of such deals in recent months. The list of such companies included MyTaxiIndia (US $1 M from Nihon Kotsu), Quickli (AVG Group & 500 Startups), and AppsDaily (US $2 M from Kalaari Capital, Qualcomm Ventures, etc.).

13. Let us look at some of the prominent exits in July 2016; Travel firm Yatra Online's listing on NASDAQ - via a US $218 Million Reverse merger with a Blank Cheque or SPAC firm - represented the first exit for VC investors in India through this route. Yatra's investors - including Norwest, Reliance Venture and Capital18 (starting in 2006), Intel Capital (2008) and Valiant Capital (2011), and IDG Ventures India, Vertex and Rajasthan VC (2015) - had invested over US $100 million in the company. The US $70 million acquisition of Jabong.com by fellow fashion e-tailer Myntra and the quick flips of HR tech firm Hiree (into Quikr) and mobile payments firm Momoe (into ShopClues into Quikr), helped increase the exit activity. (Both Hiree and Momoe had raised their first VC investment less than two years ago and counted IDG Ventures India as a common investor).

14. Entrepreneur & VC of the Month: Venture Intelligence's Entrepreneur of the Month title went to Myntra Founder Mukesh Bansal for taking the entrepreneurial plunge all over again and attracting all three early VC backers of Myntra - Accel India, Kalaari Capital and IDG Ventures India - to his new venture Curefit, in one of the largest first round investments attracted by any Indian startup.

15. Clearly green shoots are emerging on the liquidity front as venture capital firms are pumping in more cash. This marks a return of confidence in the Indian startup ecosystem.

Let us look at some self-explanatory graphs below

India's only information website on Alternative Investment Funds

Also includes $20 M+ investments in IT Companies less than 10 years old

Bridge Funding rises