VC funding pick up pace in September quarter

Mumbai: Venture capital is increasingly entering the big league with a marked surge in funding rounds upwards of $100 million, data shows. VC funding in the third quarter of 2018 doubled to over $2.5 billion compared to the previous quarter, driven by hotel booking start-up Oyo’s $1 billion funding, according to a report from consultancy KPMG. The bulk of VC funds raised by Indian technology start-ups in the third quarter came from “mega rounds” of $100m or more, including a DST Global-led investor consortium putting $225 million in Udaan, an online marketplace for businesses founded by Flipkart employees, a $120-million fund-raise by health and wellness start-up CureFit, and a $100-million round by entertainment ticketing platform BookMyShow. The report said that the Indian figures buck the trend of strong investments in Asia, which returned to stable investment levels in the third quarter after a record second quarter led primarily by China’s Ant Financial’s $14 billion fund-raise. The government’s push to electronic money, coupled with growth in e-commerce, will see significant growth in this space, and payment gateways, online insurance and micro loans will stand to benefit.” Nine of the top 10 deals in the Asia-Pacific region in the third quarter came from China, with India’s Oyo being the only non-Chinese company in the list.