These Have Been The Biggest Funding Rounds For Indian Tech Startups

OfficeChai Team

The Indian tech ecosystem has matured over the years, and there’s no better proof than the list of the biggest funding rounds Indian companies have raised — the four largest funding rounds in the history of Indian startups have all been raised with the last six months. Predictably, e-commerce firms have dominated — Flipkart, Paytm and Snapdeal account for 8 of the 10 biggest funding rounds in Indian startups. Flipkart alone has raised 5 of the biggest rounds ever, including the biggest one — a $2.5 billion infusion led by Softbank in August this year.

Here are the biggest funding rounds for Indian tech startups.

1.Flipkart: $2.5 billion in August 2017

Flipkart had announced a mega funding round in August this year, through which Softbank had become one of the largest investors in the company. Flipkart cofounder Sachin Bansal called it a monumental deal for Flipkart and India.

2. Flipkart: $1.4 billion in April 2017

Five months before the Softbank deal, Flipkart had raised $1.4 billion from Microsoft, Tencent and eBay. The deal got strategic investors for Flipkart on board — Microsoft was trying to let Flipkart to use its cloud services, and Flipkart had ended up acquiring eBay India — and provided the company with more firepower to take on Amazon.

3. Paytm: $1.4 billion in May 2017

Paytm raised $1.4 billion from Softbank earlier this year. This represented the biggest funding round for Paytm, and was also one of Softbank’s largest investments in India. Interestingly, Softbank had been an early investor in Alibaba, which in turn was already one of the largest investors in Paytm.

4. Ola: $1.1 billion in October 2017

The fourth-largest round for Indian startups was raised just this month — Ola announced it was raising $1.1 billion from Softbank, which is becoming a familiar name on the list. Ola said it was also on the lookout of raising a further $1 billion. With this round, Ola got further ammunition to take on arch-rival Amazon.

5. Flipkart: $1 billion in July 2014

Flipkart had become the first Indian firm to raise a billion dollars all the way back in July 2014. The round had been co-led by Tiger Global and Naspers, and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, GIC, Accel Partners, DST Global, ICONIQ Capital, Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Sofina had also participated.

6. Flipkart: $700 million in December 2014

A few months after raising a record $1 billion, Flipkart had gone ahead and raised a $700 million in its Series H. After this round, Flipkart had been valued at $15.2 billion, which was its highest valuation till date. Flipkart’s funding rounds in 2017 had valued the company at around $11 billion.

7. Paytm: $680 million in September 2015

Paytm raised $680 million in 2015, signalling its entry into the big league. The funding was provided by Alibaba and Ant Financial, and meant that Alibaba held 40% of the shares in the Indian payments startup.

8. Snapdeal: $627 million in October 2014

Things were booming in 2014 for e-commerce startups. In October, Snapdeal raised $627 million in a funding round led by Softbank. At this point, Snapdeal was valued at $6.5 billion. The valuation wasn’t going to last though — by 2017, Snapdeal’s valuation had fallen to around a $1 billion as it had struggled to compete against Amazon and Flipkart.

9. Flipkart: $550 million in May 2015

Flipkart’s Series I is the 5th time the e-commerce company makes it to this list. Flipkart had raised $550 million in May 2015 in a round that was led by Tiger Capital.

10. Ola: $500 million in November 2015

Ola’s Series F in November 2015 raised $500 million for the company.  Tiger Global, SoftBank and DST Global as well as Chinese cab-hailing startup Didi Kuaidi had participated in this round, which had valued Ola at $5 billion.