Geo-political instability appears to be taking a toll on the Indian startups with the total funding declining by 40 per cent to USD 6.8 billion in the April-June quarter, reveals a PwC India report.

The early-stage deals comprised more than 60 per cent of the total with an average ticket size of USD 5 million, as per the PwC India report.

“After three consecutive quarters of raising more than USD 10 billion, the total funding in the Indian startup ecosystem fell by 40 per cent during Q2 CY22 to reach USD 6.8 billion. The decline can be attributed to a global slowdown, decrease in tech stock valuations, inflation and geopolitical instability,” it added.

Software as a Service (SaaS) and fintech companies had the highest share of funding in the second quarter of Calender Year (CY) 2022, totalling more than USD 3.1 billion, the report said.

It further said that early-stage deals comprised more than 60 per cent of the total deal volumes with an average ticket size of USD 5 million.

Funding in early-stage deals during Q2 CY22 continued to be stable at around USD 800 million and could remain stable or even grow in the next few quarters -- given that entrepreneurial activity continues to flourish with increased digitisation as well as the quantum of venture capital funds waiting to be deployed in the Indian market, it added.