Risk investors put a record $6.8 billion into Indian startups in November: report

New Delhi: Investments by private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) funds in November stood at $6.8 billion across 102 deals, which is double by value when compared with the pandemic-impacted year-ago period but half of the bets in the preceding month of October, a report by industry lobby IVCA and the consultancy EY showed.

In the year-ago period, such high-risk investors had infused $3.9 billion, while in October, the total investments had stood at $13.1 billion, the monthly data showed.

Overall investments in the first 11 months of the year have touched $72.6 billion, which is 53% higher than the all-time high for a year achieved in 2020, it said.

In November, the activity was led by $2.4 billion of investments into startups and exits by PE companies in nine initial public offerings, EY's partner Vivek Soni said.

"Although India has found itself in a macro-economic and geo-political sweet spot, downside risks remain. The rise in domestic inflation on account of surging global energy prices, any potential slowdown in the government's reform agenda in view of upcoming important state elections and the threat of a new variant driven third Covid wave remain key speed bumps to watch out for in the coming months," he added.

November recorded 17 large deals of over $100 million each which alone totalled to $5.4 billion, while the pure-play PE/VC investments (excluding the ones in infrastructure and real estate) stood at $5.7 billion, it said.

The largest deals in November include the $1.5 billion buyout of Encora Digital by Advent and $840 million investment in Dream11 by a group of investors including Falcon Edge, D1 Capital, Tiger Global, TPG and others, it said, adding technology was the favourite sector for investments, followed by e-commerce.

The month recorded 21 exits worth $3.6 billion, as against $974 million in November 2020 and $5.3 billion in October.

Total funds raised for investments in the future stood at $610 million compared to $20 million in November 2020 and $70 million raised in October 2021, the report added.