Indian startups are attracting more funding in early stages than ever before.
In the first nine months of 2015, around $1 billion (Rs6,499 crore) in early stage investments—the highest ever for the country—has been pumped into startups, according to data from Venture Intelligence, a research firm.
Early stage investments include seed, first and second rounds of funding for companies that are less than five years old, Venture Intelligence said in a release. The funding this year across 266 deals has far surpassed the previous high in 2011.
Some of the notable early stage funding deals this year include American investment firm Tiger Global’s $20 million (Rs130 crore) investment in News in Shorts, a mobile-based news service, in July. In the same month, Tiger Global also participated in a $15 million (Rs97 crore) funding round in Zo Rooms, a budget hotel marketplace.
In just nine months of 2015, the total venture capital (VC) investment in Indian startups is also at an all time high of $1.4 billion. Last year, 304 deals saw a total funding of $1.2 billion.
This is how investments have increased over the last three quarters:
India’s red-hot startup sector is one of the fastest growing in the world. With the success of Flipkart, Snapdeal and Ola, which are all in the unicorn league—startups valued at over $1 billion—a wave of entrepreneurs is raring to go. And seemingly, there’s also enough money chasing potentially successful ventures.