Early-stage funding (Series A and B) fell 33 per cent to USD 668 million across 52 rounds, from USD 1 billion across 82 rounds. Seed funding dropped 57 per cent to USD 73.8 million across 76 rounds, from USD 173 million across 148 rounds.
The number of companies raising funds for the first time nearly halved to 30 from 59, the report said. Existing investors in the sector fell to 125 from 192, and first-time investors fell to 33 from 48.
By segment, digital lending attracted the most funding at USD 809 million, followed by payments at USD 776 million and investment tech at USD 450 million. Bengaluru’s share of fintech funding rose to 62 per cent (USD 1. 4 billion) from 52 per cent a year earlier.
Mumbai followed with 24 per cent and Gurugram with 7 per cent. The sector produced three new unicorns, startups valued at USD 1 billion or more: Square Yards, KreditBee and Neo Group, compared with two a year earlier.
There were three initial public offerings, up from two. They were led by Augmont, which had a market capitalisation of USD 757 million at its IPO in August, followed by Turtlemint (USD 471 million, June) and Kissht (USD 305 million, May).
Acquisitions fell 45 per cent to 11 from 20. The largest was Indiabulls Group’s USD 110 million purchase of Fintech Cloud, followed by Oxyzo’s acquisition of GoldenPi for USD 4. 4 million and Choice’s purchase of Fintoo for USD 1.1 million.
