The disclosed funding value of venture capital (VC) deals in India fell 77.8% year-on-year (YoY) to $2.7 billion in the first four months of 2023, according to GlobalData, a London-based data and analytics company.

At the same time, VC deal volume witnessed a 49.5% YoY decline to 356 during January-April 2023.

“Slowdown in VC funding activity may pose a challenge for the country’s startup ecosystem. Increased caution amongst investors is causing a strain on the availability of funding and may create an uncertain environment for aspiring entrepreneurs,” said Aurojyoti Bose, lead analyst at GlobalData.

India saw only seven VC funding deals valued at more than or equal to $100 million during the first four months of 2023, compared to 29 a year earlier.

Among notable deals were a $250 million fundraising round by PhysicsWallah, $200 million by PhonePe and $120 million by KreditBee.

Several major markets globally are grappling with challenges associated with a slowdown in VC funding activity and India is no exception to this global trend, Bose said.

Despite the subdued activity, India remains a key Asia-Pacific (APAC) market and stands just next to China during the January-April 2023 period. It accounted for 16% of the volume of VC deals made globally during January-April 2023 and 13.1% of the deal value.

(Editing by Imogen Lillywhite; imogen.lillywhite@lseg.com)