India Gets 3 New Unicorns in Q3 2024 as Mega Deals Surge

The number of mega deals increased to 10 in September 2024. Zepto, PhysicsWallah and Rapido were among the startups that raised over $100 million in a funding round

Three startups – Moneyview, Rapido, Ather Energy – entered the unicorn club in Q3 2024, the same number of startups that received the unicorn tag in H1 2024.

Overall, funding raised by Indian startups doubled year-on-year to $3.4 billion in Q3 2024.

While funding trends were subdued in the Indian startup ecosystem in the first half of 2024, funding picked up pace in the third quarter (Q3) of the year. In the period July-September 2024, total financing collected by domestic start-ups increased 100% year over year to $3.4 billionas per Inc42’s ‘Indian Tech Startup Funding Report, Q3 2024’.

The main driver of this growth was a significant increase in late-stage funding. Within three months in the startup ecosystem, 10 startups received pocket checks worth more than $100 million. In fact, the number of megadeals this quarter was the highest since Q2 2022.

During this period, Zepto, PhysicsWallah, Rapido, OYO, Whatfix, Purplle, Drip Capital, BlueStone, M2P Fintech and InMobi raised over $100 million in a single round.

The jump in mega deals also resulted in more startups reaching the unicorn level in September. Three startups entered the unicorn club in July-September compared to three startups in the first half of 2024.

Interestingly, the latest entry into the unicorn club, fintech startup Moneyview, has raised just $4.6 million in equity from Accel India and Nexus Ventures at a valuation of $1.2 billion.

Just days before Moneyview, passenger transportation startup Rapido raised $200 million in a Series E funding round at a valuation of $1.1 billion.

Before Rapido, EV major Ather Energy raised $71 million from existing investor the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) at a post-money valuation of $1.3 billion in August. The two-wheeler maker then filed a draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI for an INR 3,100-crore IPO.

Notably, three startups – Bhavish Aggarwal-led Krutrim, SaaS fintech startup Perfios and SaaS travel tech startup RateGain – have entered the ranking unicorn club in the first six months of the year.

Amid a surge in mega deals, late-stage startup funding rose 115% to $2.1 billion in September from $984 million raised in the year-ago period. With 40 deals, the Indian startup ecosystem also saw a 135% increase in late-stage deals.

Notably, the number of mega deals in the third quarter of 2024 was 42% higher than the seven deals in the first half of 2024. In the first half of 2024, late-stage startups grossed a total of $2.7 billion, down 18% than the $3.3 billion raised in the first half of 2024. 2023.

Overall, Indian startups raised a total of $5.3 billion in funding in the first six months of 2024, down 1.8% from $5.4 billion in the first half of 2023.

Despite a decline in late-stage funding over the first six months, seed and growth stage funding saw significant growth. While seed stage funding increased 23% to $589 million in H1 2024 from $479 million a year ago, growth stage funding increased 21% to $1.7 billion from $1.4 million in H1 2023 r.

Seed and growth stage funding maintained momentum in the first half of 2024. Seed-stage startups raised $360 million through 125 deals in September, up 126% from the $159 million raised through 129 deals in the year-ago period . Similarly, growth-stage startups raised $847 million through 65 deals in the third quarter, up 91% from $443 million raised through 32 deals in September 2023.