It's not surprising that some of the most active investors contributing to India's effervescent startup ecosystem are right next door, in Asia.
By Asma Chandani It's no secret that the Indian tech industry seems to be on the cusp of an intergalactic takeoff. So it's not surprising that some of the most active investors contributing to India's effervescent startup ecosystem are right next door, in Asia. Sovereign wealth funds such as Singapore's GIC and Temasek, and Chinese and Japanese telecom and e-commerce companies like Alibaba and Softbank are all ensuring they have a foothold in India's hottest venture offerings.
Online retail is a hot sector, with giants like Flipkart and Snapdeal at the forefront of India's largest unicorn suspects. Flipkart is presently valued at well over USD $14 billion, with its most recent USD $1 billion funding round led by Tiger Global, DST Global and GIC.
Low-cost mobile phone maker Micromax is close on the heels of the e-commerce leaders, landing itself in the spotlight this week as news broke of a potential Alibaba minority stake investment into Micromax. Sources within the company, however, indicate that it will be some time before the Alibaba deal is done.
Mobile payments and app-based transport are other hot sectors, with Ola and Paytm gleaming after fresh rounds of funding: in the case of Ola, from Softbank and GIC, and in Paytm's case, Alipay (Alibaba's separate payment unit).
Collectively, Alibaba, Softbank, GIC and Temasek are invested in Indian mobile/tech companies with currently estimated valuations in excess of $26 billion dollars. And there's no sign that things are going to let up.
(Asma Chandani is a US-India cross border expert and corporate attorney at Dechert LLP. She is also an Advisory Board member of Billion Dollar Babies, a Silicon Valley based group of venture capitalists organized to help Indian startups scale globally to reach billion dollar enterprise values.)
