Indian fintech startups raise $1.2 billion in Q1 2023, down 55% YoY

Fintech startups in the country attracted investments worth $1.2 billion in Q1 2023, 55 per cent lower (year-on-year) than $2.6 billion they raised in the same period last year, a report showed on Thursday.

It was an uneventful quarter in terms of IPOs and unicorns for the sector.ANo companies from the fintech space went public in Q1 2023, and there were no new entrants in the unicorn club.

However, this was a sharp jump of 126 per cent when compared with $523 million raised in Q4 of 2022, according to data provided by global SaaS-based market intelligence platform Tracxn.

The sector recorded late-stage investments of $977 million in the first three months of 2023, a spike of 325 per cent when compared to Q4 2022 but a drop of 44 per cent from Q1 2022.

Early-stage funding during the quarter was $177 million, down 30 per cent and 76 per cent from Q4 2022 and Q1 2022, respectively.

Seed-stage funding of $30.2 million was observed during this quarter, a fall of 21 per cent and 74 per cent from Q4 2022 and Q1 2022, respectively, the report mentioned.

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In the fintech space, India is the second-highest funded geography after the US in the first quarter, and occupies a spot in the top five geographies in terms of total funding activities.

"However, the funding is still on a declining trend when compared with previous years, although there has been an uptick in funding over the past few quarters," the report added.

Sequoia Capital, AngelList and Y Combinator are the most active investors in the country`s fintech space.

Y Combinator, 100X.VC, and LetsVenture were the top seed-stage investors. Xceedance, Telama Family Office, and CourtsideVC were the top early-stage investors, while Premji Invest, General Atlantic, and TVS Capital Funds were the top late-stage investors.

The sector observed six $100 million funding rounds in the first three months. Companies such as PhonePe, Mintify, Insurance Dekho and KreditBee raised funds above $100 million during this period.

Fintech companies in Bengaluru took the lead, raising $796 million, followed by Mumbai and Gurugram, which raised $222 million and $151 million respectively, during the quarter.

There was a slight uptick in acquisitions. The sector witnessed 11 acquisitions in Q1 2023, as against six acquisitions in Q4 of 2022, said the report.

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