PE-VC funding rose 11% to $26.5 bn in first half of 2022: Venture Intelligence data

A $700-million fundraise by telecom major Airtel from Google was another large PE deal struck in H1.

“There is generally a one quarter lag between when a large PE deal starts taking shape and it being finalised. There’s no doubt about the fact that most large deals have been paused until there is more clarity on how inflation pans out in the US and the impact of Fed action,” said a PE investor who did not want to be named.

“Even in the tech sector, players like Tiger Global, Sequoia and Accel seem to have taken a backseat in growth stage deals. We are also waiting to see what happens in the US mid-term elections in November,” he said.

The expectation is that if Democrats perform well in the polls, the Biden administration will ramp up government spending and borrow more. This in turn will encourage large US investors to allocate more money to US treasuries and pull out cash from emerging markets amid fears of an impending global recession.

However, industry players say that early stage startup funding will remain relatively insulated from such effects in the near term.

H1 saw 349 early stage deals with a cumulative value of $1.6 billion, according to data from Venture Intelligence. Interestingly, a few challenger funds have emerged in early stage this year as the largest dealmakers of last year have taken a breather in H1.

While Better Capital, an investor in startups like Slice, Open, Bijak and Teachmint led by solo general partner Vaibhav Domkundwar, led the early stage pack with 30 deals, InfoEdge was the other surprise entry into the top five with 12 deals in H1.

“Vaibhav is a rare investor on many counts. For one, he has been an entrepreneur himself. He has also seen the Silicon Valley models evolve up, close and personal. Therefore, he acts as a mirror for founders to help them understand how the Valley ecosystem would look at a business,” said Madhusudanan R, founder of M2P Fintech.

Shifting sands of tech

Across stages, SaaS was the biggest attraction for investors with 140 deals, followed by fintech (119), e-commerce (91), healthcare (58) and edtech (33).

“Early stage bets on fintech are off at this point given all the regulatory confusion around RBI action. In the near future, investors might also stay away from e-commerce with last two years’ themes like dukaantech and social commerce not showing a lot of traction,” said a partner at an early stage VC firm.

“We are however interested in looking at startups which want to build for ONDC integrations such as inventory management and logistics for e-commerce,” he added.

According to industry players, one big departure compared to last year might be in terms of exits. While the first half of 2021 saw several IPOs like Zomato, Paytm, Nazara, CarTrade and Policybazaar being launched, logistics startup Delhivery was the only notable tech IPO in H1 this year.

However, this year is expected to see a lot of M&A transactions taking place as a result of consolidation and lack of follow-on funding in segments like edtech and e-commerce.

“Public market exits are certainly looking difficult this year. And otherwise, exits are going to be challenging. If there's no money at growth stages, then exits will become difficult,” said Padmaja Ruparel, founding partner of IAN fund.

“I think this is a great time to buy companies, invest in companies as valuations are attractive. 2021 was very different but the foam has settled, the froth has gone. So valuations are more attractive and I think M&A activity will pick up this year,” she added.

While the investment narrative last year was driven by growth and high valuations, the focus has now shifted to reining in cash burn and a correction of prices in the private market. 

“If you last for two years, there are tremendous opportunities out there. But you have to wait for that to happen and have to be patient, and so this is the time to build. And when we talk about winter, winter is not all bad right?,” asked Vani Kola, founder of early stage VC firm Kalaari Capital.

“What happens in winter is everything slows down a bit, but the trees don't die and then spring follows and then you see what happens, greenery everywhere,” she said.