December 2, 2019
Accel India’s portfolio currently covers over 50 ventures, including Swiggy, UrbanClap, BookMyShow, and Curefit
Besides Startup India, the Indian Govt’s initiatives like Digital India, Make in India, Skill India have empowered startups
The opportunity ahead is strong since India can digitally identify 1.3 billion people and has 600 million internet users
The growth in digital infrastructure is not limited to mainstream sectors and has positively impacted agritech, education, etc
On the heels of several foreign and Indian investors proactively participating in India’s booming startup sector, venture capital firm Accel Partners India on December 2 announced the close of its US$550-million fund that would exclusively focus on seed and early-stage Indian startups. This is Accel’s sixth India-focussed fund. Accel India’s portfolio has more than 50 companies, including Swiggy, Acko General Insurance, logistics startup BlackBuck, online ticketing platform BookMyShow, bike rental startup Bounce, health and fitness startup Curefit, and home services startup UrbanClap.
As per the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, India has the world’s second-largest startup ecosystem, which is expected to grow at a 10-12 per cent annual rate with more than 1,000 new startups being born every year. Besides Startup India, which supports entrepreneurs, the Government of India’s push for digitisation (Digital India), investment (Make in India), skill development (Skill India), e-governance, among other initiatives, have provided strong support to startups. This has allowed startups to play a significant role in the growth of the Indian economy as a source of employment, innovation, and industrialisation.
The Ministry is taking many proactive initiatives to foster a positive and empowering ecosystem for startups to grow and flourish in the country.
“Today, the opportunity ahead is significantly bigger than when we started in 2005: India can now digitally identify 1.3 billion people. It has 600 million internet users and 150 million online transacting customers, with a national payments platform that processes US$ 20 billion a month,” a representative of Accel India was quoted as saying by Inc42. The company also highlighted in a press statement that Indian tech startups have created a US$100 billion enterprise value and will end up creating a disproportionately higher value in the future.
This growth comes as India’s digital infrastructure is expected to accelerate further in the coming years. The rapid growth spurt is not just limited to mainstream sectors like food delivery, digital payments, and e-commerce, but has also positively impacted agritech, education, insurance, logistics, healthcare, real estate, and manufacturing. Additionally, the usage of the latest innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, blockchain, and cloud computing has further driven opportunities in the Indian startup space.