Reporting from the trenches: trends that shaped the Indian startup ecosystem in 2018 and what 2019 might bring us
4 Jan 2019 4:09 AM GMT
A lot of highs and a few lows. Blockbuster events in 2018 also signaled positivity and optimism in a market that many call tough to crack.The year 2018 was packed with action when it came to the start...
- While one would say that’s a good thing, as someone reporting it, it’s kept me on my toes.Byju’s became the world’s most valuable edtech startup in 2018, and Walmart bought 77 percent stake in Flipkart to complete the largest ecommerce deal in the world.
- If that was not enough, Swiggy entered the Unicorn club and then to wrap up the year raised a $1 billion funding round, Flipkart’s Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal again made headlines and Snapdeal had people guessing whether it had managed to pull a phoenix story.Looking back, 2018 was a mixed bag of good and bad.
- Deals were fairly evenly distributed across early stage, growth stage and late-stage deals.According to YourStory Research data, last year, the Indian startup ecosystem saw over 855 deals amounting to $12.64 billion in equity funding.
- The ripple effect of the Flipkart-Walmart deal For me, the most interesting development last year was the fact that biggies like Softbank and Tiger Global returned to the Indian startup ecosystem.
- Indian language content saw what some call an explosion in 2018.
Next Story
