India second inwomen-run techstartup funding

 

 

THE Indian tech startup ecosystem now ranks second, after the US, in terms of all-time funding raised by companies with women founders, with a total of $26 billion in this space to date, a report showed on Friday. India is home to over 7,000 active women-led startups, accounting for 7.5 per cent of all active startups in the country. These startups have collectively raised $26.4billion in funding,with 2021being the highest fundedyear at $6.3billion, according to data by Tracxn, a leading startup research and analytics firm. Bengaluru leads in both the number of women-led startups and total funding raised to date, followed by Mumbai and Delhi-NCR. On a global scale, 2022 saw the highest funding contribution from Indian startups at 15.18%.

 

That year, women-led startups in India raised $5 billion,compared to $32.8billion globally. In 2024, India ranked third globally in terms of funding raised by startups co-led by women, after the US and the UK, accounting for 3.96 per cent of funding raised by women-ledstartupsacross the globe. The retail sector takes a strong lead based on investments raised by women-led startups, securing $7.8 billion in all-time funding. Edtech ($5.4 billion) and Enterprise Applications ($5 billion) follow closely. Notably, sub-sectorssuch as B2C e-commerce, internetfirst brands, and fashion tech are seeing significant activity, with several startupsco-ledby women, the report noted. The highest number of acquisitions of women-led startups was recordedin 2021, with 45 acquisitions.However, thisnumberdeclinedby20per cent to 36 in 2022, and further decreased by 30.5 per cent to 25 in 2023. In 2024, the number of acquisitions fell to 16. “These startups are not only securing massive funding but alsoredefiningindustries,generating employment, and settingnewbenchmarks for future entrepreneurs,”said thereport.