Today, we’re highlighting the most important developments of 2015 in cashback, ecommerce and VC investments in India during 2015. It was quite a year in the booming subcontinent and indications are 2016 will be more of the same success. Homegrown venture-capital funds raised more than $4 billion in 2015, the highest in four years. Tracxn reported that Flipkart Ltd, Snapdeal (Jasper Infotech Pvt. Ltd) and Amazon Seller Services Pvt. Ltd accounted for 80% of the market, while eMarketer projected e-commerce will grow to more than $55 billion in 2018. VCCEdge reported more than $5 billion raised 37 Indian private venture capital funds. Private equity purchases are set to reach a new high of $10.89 billion in 2015 according to Thomson Reuters.
VCCEdge said Indian PE backed firms raised more than $2 billion in IPOs in 2015. Logistics became a hot property in 2015 with Tracxn reporting that funding toward logistics startups jumped nearly 10 times from US$69.3 million to US$617.7 million in 2015. Ecommerce in India accounted for nearly half of the US$6.4 billion of funding in Indian startups in the first three-quarters of 2015 according to Tracxn. The trend to a cashless society in India is well underway as competition heats up in the digital payments sector with players such as India Infoline Finance Ltd (IIFL) and Paytm. we’re watching for continued startup investment in 2016 with Spark10, a European startup accelerator set to invest $100 million in Indian startups.
India 2015: Homegrown venture capital funds raise over $4b, the highest in four years
Domestic fund managers, or general partners (GPs), have raised over $4 billion in funds in 2015, the highest in four years, helped by an improvement in the investment sentiment around India and a pickup in exits from previous investments. As the mood turned, GPs were quick to go on the road to raise fresh funds which they expect to deploy over the coming economic cycle, according to VCCEdge, which tracks investments and is the financial research platform of VCCircle.
GPs raised $4.3 billion during the year from domestic and offshore investors or limited partners (LPs), shows data from VCCEdge. This is higher than the $3.6 billion raised in 2012, $3.4 billion in 2013 and $3.8 billion in 2014. Since 2010, 115 India-dedicated funds have together raised $11.5 billion, according to VCCEdge data. Via dealstreetasia.com
7 hottest e-retail categories to watch out for:Flipkart
This year, although 406 startups were founded in the online retail sector in India, according to start-up tracker Tracxn –Flipkart Ltd, Snapdeal (Jasper Infotech Pvt. Ltd) and Amazon Seller Services Pvt. Ltd accounted for 80% of the market. Their sales are expected to grow from $14 billion in 2015 to $55 billion in 2018, according to a report by marketing research firm eMarketer.
As more Indians shift to e-commerce, the list of things one shops for online is growing and these seven following categories are the ones to watch out for in the next year, according to Flipkart, which collected data from 50 million shoppers between 1 January and 14 December. Via dealstreetasia.com
India: Private equity deal pace to surge in 2016 as mounting debt pushes firms to divest assets
Continued asset sales by India’s most indebted firms should help private equity players notch up a bumper 2016 in Asia’s third-largest economy, with more and larger deals sealing a revival begun with record investments this year. Private equity purchases are set to reach a new high of $10.89 billion this year, surpassing the high water mark set in 2007, according to Thomson Reuters data. In 2014, private equity investments totalled just $6 billion.
Financial industry insiders expect that momentum to continue into 2016, as renewed interest among private equity buyers feeds higher valuations. Among potential deals, GVK Group is considering selling 49 percent of unit GVK Airport Developers to private equity players for around $600 million. Via dealstreetasia.com
India 2015: PE backed firms raise $2b in via IPO
2015 proved to be a year of comeback for the IPO market with some strong debuts taking capital raising from the stock market to around $2 billion against $226 million in 2014, indicating a seven-fold growth.
The sharp recovery in public offerings comes after two years of tepid IPO activity but the market is yet to capture the peaks reached in 2010, when companies raised a whopping $5.4 billion. In 2015, the market saw a string of initial public offers with around 21 companies getting successfully listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE)
The companies that were listed – not including the funds raised by Alkem ($203 million) and Dr Lal Path Labs( $96 million) – raised around Rs 114.5 billion ($1.7 billion), according to data available in VCCEdge, a research platform of VCCircle. Via dealstreetasia.com
10 top-funded logistics startups in India this year
When it became clear that ecommerce startups could not be profitable in India until the country solved its infrastructure woes, the logistics sector rejoiced. According to data from venture capital intelligence firm Tracxn, funding money toward logistics startups jumped from US$69.3 million to US$617.7 million between 2014 and 2015.
Because the problem was so complicated, startups had plenty to focus on. In 2015, logistics trends included startups that provided powerful backend technology, hyperlocal delivery services, and truck aggregators. Here are the ten logistics startups that received the most funding in India. Keep in mind, this list does not include the equally intriguing and worthy-of-mention startups that are working on India’s food and grocery delivery ecosystem. Via techinasia.com
15 top-funded ecommerce startups in India this year – with a few surprises
Ecommerce accounted for nearly half of the US$6.4 billion of funding in Indian startups in the first three-quarters of 2015. It continues last year’s trend when India had its first billion dollar funding round in Flipkart, followed by nearly two-thirds of a billion dollars invested in Snapdeal.
After Japan’s SoftBank came in with bagfuls of cash for Snapdeal last year, it was Alibaba’s turn to make its move in early 2015, and what a surprise it was. The horse it backed in India’s ecommerce race is none other than the nimble Paytm. Later in the year, it also betted on Snapdeal for a two-pronged proxy war against its global rival Amazon on Indian turf. Now let’s take a closer look at the 15 top ecommerce players in India, ranked by the funding they received this year, according to data from venture capital analytics firm Tracxn. Via techinasia.com
Recap 2015: Top India-dedicated PE and VC fundraisers
Positive business and investment sentiment that buoyed the stock market early this year also gave more comfort to Limited Partners (LPs), who are the investors in private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) firms, to loosen their purse strings.
Indeed, around $5 billion was raised across some 37 India-dedicated funds cutting across investment strategies and asset classes, as per VCCEdge, the data research platform of VCCircle. Although last year the top funds raised were much bigger in size (click here), some big PE funds made final close this year. Here is a list of the top five fundraisers in 2015… Via vccircle.com
India: Digital credit poised to be next step towards a cash-light economy
From clothes to selfie sticks, Brandroot sells a plethora of goods online through the Snapdeal marketplace. However, at times, the business faced funding issues when payments were due to come from the e-commerce firm and payments were to be made to suppliers. For Vikash Diwan, a 35-year-old Meerut-based owner of the business, credit is now just a call away. He calls it his helpline. “Whenever I require funds, I just call IIFL,” said Diwan.
Snapdeal has a tie-up with India Infoline Finance Ltd (IIFL) to offer credit to the vendors on the online marketplace based on their transaction history. Of late, e-commerce companies, such as Flipkart and Snapdeal, and wallet providers, such as Paytm, are now aggressively looking to provide credit digitally to its vendors. Via dealstreetasia.com
Accelerator Spark10 to invest $100m in Indian startups
Spark10, a European startup accelerator will be investing $100 million in the Indian startups through its accelerator programme, it said in an official statement. “We have arrived in India with a single motive to churn out startups into valuable companies. We are here to foster rapid growth of portfolio of tech Startups”, informed Atal Malviya, lead founder of Spark10.
Backed by international mentors and angel networks, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists (VCs) and founders, Spark10 has launched its operations at the campus of Engineering Staff College of India at Gachibowli in Hyderabad. The accelerator plans to invest in the startup across IOT (Internet of Things), mobile, internet, smart technologies, analytics, machine learning etc. It will select 10 startups and will provide seed-funding of Rs 20 lakh each. Via dealstreetasia.com
In the next two weeks, we’ll be looking back at 2015 highlights in major markets as well as looking at projections for cash back, ecommerce, mobile, and VC investment in major markets around the world.