Tamil Nadu start-ups have raised over $1,235 million in 23 deals from private equity and venture capital firms in the first three months of 2022.
During the same period last year, 12 start-ups in the State got $530 million, according to data collated by Venture Intelligence, a research service focusing on private company financials and transactions and their valuation.
Of these start-ups, 13 are headquartered in Tamil Nadu. The rest were once headquartered in the State, but have moved abroad, closer to the investors. But these firms continue to operate and have a major presence in the State.
“If we were to split the data between overseas headquartered and non-overseas headquartered, the funds raised would be $842 million for overseas and $393 million for non-overseas,” said Arun Natarajan, founder, Venture Intelligence.
In terms of angel investments during the quarter ended March 31, around 18 start-ups from Tamil Nadu got funding. In the same period last year, only 4 got investments.
At the national level, private equity and venture capital firms invested over $15.1 billion (across 346 deals) in Indian companies during the first three months of 2022. While the amount represents a 72% increase over the $8.8 billion (across 257 deals) invested in the same period during 2021, it is down 20% compared with the immediate previous quarter, when $18.9 billion was invested (across 344 deals).
Deal volumes in the first quarter of 2022 — which showed a 35% growth compared with the first quarter of 2021 — stayed flat, compared with the immediate previous quarter.
“With the steep decline in technology stock prices in the U.S. as well of the newly IPO-ed unicorns in the Indian public markets, private market investors are likely to be much more selective in funding late-stage tech start-ups, as compared with 2021,” noted Mr. Natarajan.
“As the pandemic-induced headwinds as well as tailwinds recede, we are likely to see private equity and venture capital investors, who have already raised a significant capital for their newer funds, focusing on newer sectors and catalyzing consolidation in some of the tech sectors,” he added.
