After enduring a prolonged funding winter, the Indian startup ecosystem witnessed a resurgence in funding this year. The total funding raised by homegrown startups jumped 20% to $12 Bn in 2024 from $10 Bn last year, according to Inc42’s ‘Indian Tech Startup Funding Report 2024’.
The number of funding deals also jumped 11% to 993 this year from 897 deals last year.
This funding momentum is expected to continue next year as well, with 91% of investors expressing optimism about improving funding numbers in 2025 in Inc42’s annual investor survey as against 81% a year ago. And this optimism is not without reason.
Not only did startup funding show a marked improvement over last year and stabilise to 2020 levels in 2024, but the capital raised by new-age tech companies via initial public offerings (IPOs) also hit an all-time high this year.
As many as 13 new-age tech companies made their Dalal Street debut this year after raising a staggering INR 29,000+ Cr via fresh issue and offer for sale during their public listings.
Stage wise, early stage funding saw the highest 31% year-on-year (YoY) growth in 2024, as investors continued to bet heavily on early stage AI startups.
This trend is expected to seep into 2025, with AI and GenAI emerging as the top choice for 56% of startup investors surveyed by Inc42. It was followed by cleantech and renewable energy at 43%, fintech at 39%, ecommerce at 33%, healthtech at 30%, and spacetech and semiconductor at 20% each.
While most of these funds would be deployed over the coming years, it is natural to ask which investors topped the charts when it came to backing the biggest number of startups in 2024. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at the top startup investors of 2024.
Note: This ranking is based on data consolidated from Inc42’s Investor Ranking & Sentiment Surveys [2024 & Q3 2024 edition], and deals recorded in the Inc42 database.
Top Startup Investors Of 2024
AngelList India
AngelList India participated in 120 deals in 2024, recording the highest deal count in the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem. During the year, the angel network backed fintech startup Ambak, bubble tea brand Boba Bhai, traveltech startup The Hosteller, proptech startup Truva, deeptech startup WorkHack, among others.
Founded in 2009 by Naval Ravikant, AngelList lets investors contribute as little as $1,000, alongside accredited backers, through investment syndicates. It rolled out an India-focussed venture and angel fund in 2019.
AngelList introduced the concept of a rolling fund in the US in 2020, providing an innovative alternative to the traditional VC model. This approach aimed to streamline the process for emerging venture capitalists, offering them a quicker route to initiate and finalise their initial deals.
Stride Ventures
Stride Ventures, which counts startups like Rebel Foods, SUGAR Cosmetics, Exotel, and The Good Glamm Group, among others, in its portfolio, emerged as the most active venture debt firm this year. It participated in 76 deals.
Some of the prominent new-age tech companies that Stride Ventures invested in 2024 included electric mobility startup Ola Electric, IPO-bound omnichannel jewellery startup BlueStone, digital pharmacy PharmEasy, EV battery manufacturing startup Lohum Cleantech, and IPO-bound EV two-wheeler manufacturer Ather Energy, among others.
Founded in 2019 by Ishpreet Gandhi, the Delhi-based venture debt firm invests in startups across sectors such as fintech, agritech, B2B commerce, healthtech, B2B SaaS, mobility, and energy solutions.
The firm has backed over 100 startups across sectors such as consumer internet, SaaS, fintech, and B2B platforms.
Earlier this year, Strides Ventures announced the final close of its Fund III at $165 Mn. In December 2024, it launched its fourth fund with a target corpus of $300 Mn (about INR 2,545 Cr).
Alteria Capital
Mumbai-headquartered venture debt firm Alteria Capital announced 73 deals in 2024. It ploughed funds into fintech unicorn OneCard, Bhavish Aggarwal-led Ola Electric, dairy tech startup Country Delight, cloud kitchen unicorn Rebel Foods, AI-based robotics startup Haber, fintech soonicorn Cashfree Payments, among others, in 2024.
Founded in 2017, Alteria Capital is a venture debt fund focussed on innovative startups backed by large VC firms.
The firm has invested in several prominent new-age tech companies since its inception, including the likes of car reselling marketplace Cars24, fintech unicorn BharatPe, used car marketplace Spinny, among others.
Last year, it invested in B2B marketplace Jumbotail, D2C jewellery startup Giva, house of brands unicorn Mensa Brands, ebike manufacturer EMotorad, D2C startup Mokobara, among others.
DeVC
Early stage venture capital (VC) firm DeVC announced 60 deals in 2024. During the year, it provided capital to startups such as activewear brand Terractive, instant marinades provider KILRR, casual game developer and publisher Felicity Games, kids-focussed edtech startup EMoMee, and Boba Bhai.
Founded in 2022, DeVC backs startups across sectors at angel, seed, and pre-seed levels. It claims to be a fund by founders, operators, and early investors. The average ticket size of DeVC’s investments ranges between $50K to $500K.
It has invested in over 70 startups, including Bidso, Hotelzify, and EMoMee, among others.
The VC firm also counts over 40 prominent figures in the Indian startup ecosystem, including Razorpay’s Harshil Mathur, Swiggy’s Rohit Kapur, Haptik’s Akrit Vaish, former BharatPe CEO Suhail Sameer, as mentors for startups it invests in.
Blume Ventures
Early-stage venture capital firm Blume Ventures announced 58 deals in 2024. The Mumbai-based VC firm invested in startups like job preparation platform Interview Kickstart, MSME lending tech startup Optimo, AI-based SaaS startup Clientell, sustainable packaging startup Bambrew, gaming startup Lightfury Games, and women’s fashion and apparel brand FASHOR, during the year.
Founded in 2011 by Karthik Reddy and Sanjay Nath, Blume Ventures invests in startups across sectors such as agritech, fintech, edtech, ecommerce, horizontal SaaS, spacetech, healthtech, foodtech, climate tech, artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, consumer tech, and deeptech, among others.
The 13-year-old VC firm counts ride-hailing upstart Namma Yatri, ecommerce unicorn Purplle, edtech startup Unacademy, fintech unicorn slice, battery swapping platform Battery Smart, electric mobility startup Yulu, and robotics startup GreyOrange, among others, in its portfolio.
Trifecta Capital
Another venture debt firm Trifecta Capital, which counts Atomberg, BigBasket, and BlueStone among its portfolio companies, announced 55 deals in 2024. Some of its notable investments this year included fintech neobanking startup Kaleidofin, digital lending platform KISSHT, among others.
Founded by Rahul Khanna and Nilesh Kothari, Trifecta Capital was launched in 2014 to offer non-dilutive financing solutions for early and growth-stage companies.
Over the last 10 years, the venture debt fund claims to have invested INR 6,000 Cr+ in more than 160 homegrown startups, including recently listed logistics major BlackBuck, Delhi NCR-based beer brand Bira 91, cloud kitchen startup Curefoods, agritech startup Agrim, omnichannel kids retailer FirstCry, among others.
In August this year, Trifecta Capital launched its fourth fund with a total corpus size of INR 2,000 Cr (around $240 Mn), including a green shoe option of INR 500 Cr.
100X.VC
Homegrown early-stage venture capital firm 100X.VC closed 54 deals in 2024, backing startups such as breakfast brand The Naturik Co, B2B online marketplace Zafo Technologies, cleantech startup Zircle, fintech company Orbit Wallet, and logistics API solutions provider OpenLeaf, just to name a few.
Founded in 2019 by Sanjay Mehta, Ninad Karpe, Shashank Randev, Yagnesh Sanghrajka, and Vatsal Kanakiya, 100X.VC is a sector-agnostic firm.
In October, 100X.VC announced a new portfolio of 15 startups that it funded through Class 10. The Sanjay-Mehta-led firm invested $160K per startup, translating to a total investment of about $2.3 Mn through iSAFE notes.
For its 11th cohort, 100X.VC shortlisted 17 startups from a pool of more than 1,500 applications covering a wide spectrum of industries, including deeptech, AI, retail tech, healthtech, and B2B SaaS.
Last month, Randev announced his decision to quit 100X.VC after a stint of over 5 years at the VC firm. At the time, Randev said that during his tenure, the VC firm invested $20 Mn in 180 Indian companies and backed over 400 founders.
ah! Ventures
Mumbai-based VC firm ah! Ventures backed 51 deals in 2024 and participated in funding rounds of startups such as ecommerce startup Plan B, AI-based HRtech startup CredoHire, Delhi NCR-based agritech startup Urban Farms, EV ride-hailing platform Snap-E Cabs, and AI-based agritech startup Agrilectric among others.
Founded by Harshod Lahoti and Abhijeet Kumar, ah! Ventures is a curated sector-agnostic fundraising platform for early-stage startups raising funds to the tune of $10 Mn. It has backed several early-stage startups across sectors, including FlexifyMe, CarEasy, and Sugar Watchers.
It began investing in 2012-13 and has since participated in over 140 deals totalling about INR 286 Cr. Typically, it invests INR 3-3.5 Cr in a startup.
In 2022, ah! Ventures set up an angel fund with a corpus of INR 100 Cr (around $14 Mn) to invest in 30-35 early-stage startups operating in sectors such as healthcare, fintech, education, B2B SaaS, enterprise tech, and D2C.
Inflection Point Ventures
Angel investment platform Inflection Point Ventures (IPV) announced 48 deals in 2024, providing capital to new-age tech companies such as EV ride-hailing startup Snap-E Cabs, refurbished tire startup REGRIP, D2C consumer goods startup Palette Brands, B2B beauty marketplace Glamplus, among others.
Founded in 2018 by Vinay Bansal, Ankur Mittal, Mitesh Shah, and Vinod Bansal, IPV helps startups connect with over 18K angel investors. It has backed startups like Clensta, Siply, Loankuber, Kazam, Qubehealth, among others.
IPV has participated in more than 210 deals with support from over 11,000 investors, including CXOs, HNIs, and professionals, to date.
In January, IPV launched a sector-agnostic accelerator to support entrepreneurs looking to build startups that are at the idea stage.
InnoVen Capital
Mumbai-based venture debt firm InnoVen Capital participated in 48 deals in 2024. Some of the prominent startups that it backed during the year included omnichannel jewellery startup BlueStone, EV startup Ather Energy, fintech startup BharatPe, IPO-bound construction materials manufacturer Infra.Market, cloud kitchen unicorn Rebel Foods, among others.
Established as a joint venture between Seviora, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Temasek, and United Overseas Bank in 2015, InnoVen Capital provides venture debt financing to early and growth-stage startups across sectors like fintech, ecommerce, consumer internet, healthtech, logistics, mobility, edtech, travel tech, among others.
Since its incorporation, it has invested in more than 120 homegrown startups and counts BYJU’S, Swiggy, OYO, DailyHunt, boAt, RentoMojo, Snapdeal, Tata 1mg, Chaayos, Shadowfax, Porter, MobiKwik, among its portfolio companies.
[Edited By Vinaykumar Rai]
