Chennai: Private Equity-Venture Capital (PE-VC) investments fell sharply in July amid the ongoing funding slowdown in growth and late stage companies.
The value of private investments fell by around 72% year-on-year and the number of deals almost halved. July recorded just 77 deals worth around $2.6 billion as compared to 136 deals of $9.6 billion in the same month last year, and 117 deals of $4.6 billion in June. In contrast to the hectic unicorn minting activity seen last year, July saw just one company – fintech startup OneCard – achieve the unicorn status, and only five mega deals (deals over $100 million) were recorded in the month compared to 11 such deals in June.
PE-VC investments declined for the third continuous quarter in April-June as both public and private markets went through a correction hit by liquidity slowdown and other macroeconomic factors. The slowdown has been more pronounced in the growth-stage and late-stage investments, while early-stage investments continue to hold steady. Marquee investor Tiger Global, for instance, has focused its attention on early-stage deals this year.
Yes Bank’s $1.1 billion raise from US-based PE firms Carlyle Group and Advent International was the top deal in the month, followed by Mahindra & Mahindra’s $250 million funding from British International for the former’s EV business.
“While dominance of the tech sector was high last year, this year we have seen more diversity, with non-tech deals dominating top deals,” Arun Natarajan, founder and MD, Venture Intelligence, said. A lot of the pessimism around the US markets is spilling over to India, he added.
Other analysts TOI spoke to said that investors are in a wait-and-watch mode, and the FOMO (fear of missing out) present last year is absent now.