Unicorn Investments: Funding Winter A Global Phenomenon Not India-Specific, Says Report

In China funding dipped by 54 per cent, while in the US and Europe it was down more than 25 per cent. Start-up funding in the UK dipped by 18.8 per cent

In India, 23 companies entered 2023 with unicorn status out of which 13 firms are profitable, Tracxn report said. ( Image Source :Getty )

Funding winter has been a cause for concern for start-ups in recent years. In 2022, the significant drop in funding was attributed to a decline in late-stage investments. Now a new report from a leading global market intelligence platform Tracxn, says that funding winter is not India-specific. It’s a global phenomenon as funding dipped from 2021 to 2022 for all major economies. 

Tracxn dashboard's insights about unicorns and profitable unicorns showed that in 2022, start-up funding in India dropped to 33 per cent. In other parts of the world, the situation was even worse. In China’s funding dipped by 54 per cent. While in US and Europe, it was down more than 25 per cent. Start-up funding in the UK dipped by 18.8 per cent, the report showed.  

However, in India, 23 companies entered 2023 with unicorn status out of which 13 firms are profitable, the report said. In such unicorns, Molbio Diagnostics, Tata 1 MG, ShipRocket, 5ire, OneCard were top five start-up that received unicorn status. While PhysicsWallah, Oxyzo, Amagi, CoinSwitch, and Molbio Diagnostics were the top five profitable unicorns. 

Provider of nucleic acid tests for infectious diseases Molbio Diagnostics received a total funding of $120 million becoming the top profitable unicorn with the latest valuation of $1,600 million, the report said. In the last round of funding Molbio Diagnostics recived $85 million. 

Much talked about app-based tutoring platform PhysicsWallah received a funding amount of $100 million in its last round of investment making its valuation $1,100 million. 

App-based trading platform for cryptocurrencies CoinSwitch’s latest funded amount was $260 million. Firms latest valuation was $1910 million.

For India, investors’ favorite sectors were consumer, enterprise applications, FinTech, retail, and transportation and logistics tech, the report said.