Start-Ups Raise Over $640 Million in November

Chennai: Start-ups seem to be facing the chill of winter. In November start-ups raised a little over $640 million.  

Around 102 startups raised $643.6 million in November as compared to $1.24 billion in the previous month of October. This is a 48 per cent month-on-month decline in terms of the amount raised. After crossing the $1 billion funding mark for two consecutive months in September and October, November became the fourth lowest funded month in 2023. In June, start-ups had raised $631 million, $461 million in July, and $464 million in August.

Comparing it with the past three years’ trend, November 2023 ranked the lowest in terms of total funding. Overall, the total funding in 2023 stood at $9.6 billion and 2023 is likely to end with a little over $10 billion. Start-ups had raised $25 billion in 2022 and $38 billion in 2021, as per the data compiled by TheKredible.

E-commerce start-ups dominated the chart with 21 deals amounting to $151 million followed by fintech startups which raised $107 million in 14 deals. Interestingly, agri-tech and ed-tech did not find a place in the top-five list and raised only $4 million and $2 million respectively.

Bengaluru saw 30 deals worth $165 million, and Delhi-NCR-based start-ups raised nearly $300 million across 28 deals and accounted for 46 per cent of the total funding. Mumbai, Pune, and Chennai were next on the list.

Layoffs and shutdowns, once again, saw an upward trend in November. More than 850 employees were laid off in the last month as compared to 500 in October. Two ed-tech start-ups Byju’s and PhysicsWallah collectively fired 720 employees. Gaming streaming company Loco also fired 40 employees. Meanwhile, a couple of start-ups including Anar and OSlash announced their shutdown.

Entrackr believes that strong narratives will continue to attract funds, especially if interest rates soften in the US as is being predicted in 2024. The latest GDP numbers will also be a strong reminder of many of the possibilities in India, with the only uncertainty possibly being the May general elections next year. But even that won’t keep away the serious players making long-term bets on Indian entrepreneurs.