'Indian startups on track to raise $8-12 bn this year'

Indian startups are expected to raise $8-12 billion this year, a top official of venture capital firm Peak XV said on Monday, highlighting that the country's startup ecosystem is the most vibrant in the world.

Speaking at StartUp Mahakumbh, Peak XV managing director Rajan Anandan said around $20 billion of private capital is lying uninvested and is committed for investment in private firms and startups in India.

Anandan said that the investment run rate in Indian startups before 2021 and 2022, was about $8-10 billion, which increased to $60 billion in 2021 and 2022 combined.

"Last year, it was $7 billion, which people said is low. It could have been zero because basically six years of funding came in two years.

"This year we are well on track to $8-10 or 12 billion.

"We are going to have an ecosystem which is going to have $10-12 billion for few years and it will go at natural pace that it should," Anandan said.

He said that $10 billion or about Rs 80,000 crore funding per yeamr is enough to build the Indian startup ecosystem.

Citing shift in focus of funding in the US to AI and next generation software entities, Anandan said the Indian startup ecosystem is the most vibrant ecosystem in the world.

He said that his firm last year made investments in consumer businesses which are no longer getting funded in the US.

"India today has 20 startups that are being publicly traded. We think that over the next 7-8 years, there will be 100 startups that will go public," Anandan said.

He indicated that growth in funding is coming back across funding stages.