India currently occupies a unique position in the global funding climate. Even though news stories will claim that India was the second most funded geography (after the US) in Q1 2023 (Jan.-March), financing fell by 63.0% compared to Q1 2022 and by 75% compared to Q4 2022 (Oct.-Dec.).
Additionally, India's previous unicorn was in September 2022, making this one of the longest stretches without a country-based billion-dollar firm.
Pragmatically, Anup Jain, Managing Partner of Orios Venture Partners (Orios VP), believes that the fundraising environment in India might not improve until 2024 (or the final quarter of FY24).
Jain told exclusively, “Things will tend to look up after the Union Budget [for FY25] assuming there’s no change in the global economic situation. I expect that the second half of 2024 should be different from what we are seeing right now.”
The investor warns, however, that companies with rapid capital burn, such as 10-minute grocery delivery and others, may still have trouble securing finance.
Orios VP has backed several consumer-facing startups across categories, including Pharmeasy, Country Delight, ixigo, GoMechanic (which recently ran into trouble before it was acquired), Zostel, Mobikwik, Zupee, and so on. Some of its other key bets have been in the areas of carbon credits (Varaha), green mobility (Battery Smart), education (NxtWave), healthcare (BeatO, Elda Health), agritech (Krishify, Unnati), AI (Intelligence Node), creator economy (Bolo Live) etc.
