Introduction

India has some of the most valuable start-ups in the world cutting across various sectors and industries, armed with their funding war chests, they are ready to take on the competition and revolutionize the landscape. So it is pertinent to analyze those which have raised the highest amount of capital to understand industry trends in the world’s fifth-largest economy. Start-ups considered for this analysis are unlisted non-government entities that have raised more than $100 million (USD) of capital to date. Also included are start-ups which have been acquired but whose identity has largely been intact and subsidiaries of private/public companies. Overall 176 start-ups have been considered for this analysis. They’ve been classified (classification is subjective and has been made considering the sector/industry they closely resemble) based on Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) developed by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) and Standard & Poor’s. According to GICS, start-ups are classified into 11 sectors namely Energy, Materials, Industrials, Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, Healthcare, Financials, Information Technology, Communication Services, Utilities and Real Estate. Examples of some of the industries present within different sectors: 

  • Energy: Energy equipment & services and Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels.
  • Materials: Chemicals, Construction Materials and Metals & Mining.
  • Industrials: Capital Goods, Transportation and Commercial & Professional Services.
  • Consumer Discretionary: Automobiles & Components, Consumer Durables & Apparel and Retailing.
  • Consumer Staples: Food & Staples Retailing, Food, Beverage & Tobacco and Household & Personal Products.
  • Health Care: Health Care Equipment & Services and Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology & Life Sciences.
  • Financials: Banks, Diversified Financials and Insurance.
  • Information Technology: Software & Services, Technology Hardware & Equipment and Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment.
  • Communication Services: Telecommunication Services and Media & Entertainment.
  • Utilities: Electric Utilities, Gas Utilities and Water Utilities.
  • Real Estate: Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts and Real Estate Management & Development.

Number of funding rounds of Indian start-ups* that have raised $100 million+ (USD)

Source: Funding data (as of 26th Nov, 2020), Crunchbase
Number of rounds range from 1 to 25 and a majority of start-ups have raised capital in a single round- 34 start-ups in total. Nearly 53% of them have raised capital within one to five rounds. Among the list of start-ups, Ola has the most number of rounds- 25, followed by Flipkart at 24, Aye Finance at 23 and Rebel Foods at 20. Approximately 82% of them have raised capital within 10 rounds.

Sector-wise funding details of Indian start-ups* that have raised $100 million+ (USD)

Source: Funding data (as of 26th Nov, 2020), Crunchbase
Overall the start-ups have raised a staggering $103.2 billion (USD), which is an impressive feat. Majority of the capital raised has flowed to the Consumer Discretionary sector- $ 36.7 billion (USD) which is around 35.6% of the total capital raised. The Communication Services sector has raised the second-highest amount of capital at $27.8 billion (USD), followed by the Industrials sector at $12.54 billion (USD). Financials and Information Technology sectors have raised almost identical amounts of capital at $7.12 billion (USD) and $7.27 billion (USD) respectively. Consumer Staples and Energy together constitute less than 1% of the total capital raised.

Sector-wise break-up of the total number of Indian start-ups* that have raised $100 million+ (USD)

Source: Funding data (as of 26th Nov, 2020), Crunchbase
Of the 176 start-ups, maximum number of them belong to the Consumer Discretionary sector with 43 start-ups followed by Financials sector with 33 and the Industrials sector with 26. Communication Services and Information Technology have the same number of start-ups- 15 each, while the Healthcare sector and the Real Estate sector have 14 start-ups each. 

Sector-wise break-up of  the top 50 Indian start-ups* that have raised the highest amount of capital (USD)

Source: Funding data (as of 26th Nov, 2020), Crunchbase
Overall the top 50 have raised close to $82 billion (USD) which makes up nearly 79% of the total capital raised. Continuing the trend, Consumer Discretionary has the highest number of start-ups among the top 50.
SectorStart-upAmount of Capital Raised (USD)
Consumer DiscretionaryFlipkart$9 Billion
Communication ServicesReliance Jio$24.7 Billion
IndustrialsOla$3.8 Billion
Information TechnologyOne97$4.4 Billion
UtilitiesReNew Power$2.7 Billion
FinancialsPolicyBazaar$626 Million
HealthcarePharmEasy$328 Million
EnergyNayara Energy$349 Million
Real EstatePiramal Realty$434 Million
Source: Funding data (as of 26th Nov, 2020), Crunchbase

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