By: Chandrashekar Bhat
VENTURE capital (VC) investments in the technology sector soared to record in India in 2021 as the country’s ranking jumped a notch to the third spot, according to new research.
The analysis conducted jointly by London & Partners and Dealroom.Co found that Bangalore continued to lead India’s tech charge, attracting $18.6 billion (£13.56 bn) to rank fifth in the world’s top global cities for tech VC investments.
Overall, Indian tech VC investments grew nearly three times from $14.9 bn (£10.86 bn) in 2020 to $44.6 bn (£32.51 bn) in 2021, a year of a worldwide record high for such investments at $675 bn (£492 bn).
According to the report released in London on Thursday (13), the UK ranked fourth with $39.8 bn (£29.01 bn), with capital London also in the fourth place just ahead of Bangalore as the world’s top tech hubs with $25.5 bn (£18.59).
“The record venture capital investment figures for the UK and India in 2021 demonstrate that tech and innovation are thriving across both regions. With an increasing number of unicorns and exciting tech startups, cities such as London and Bengaluru (Bangalore) are now recognised by VCs as some of the best places to find game changing companies to invest in,” said Hemin Bharucha, country director, India, for London and Partners, the Mayor of London’s international trade and investment agency.
“This is great news for tech businesses across both ecosystems and creates lots of opportunities for collaboration between London and Indian tech hubs, especially in areas of mutual strength such as fintech and edtech. As well as access to high levels of growth capital, London has the talent, customers and a supportive ecosystem tech companies need to scale and we look forward to helping more Indian businesses expand into London in 2022,” he said.
The VC tech investments in 2021 were led by the US with $328.8 bn (£239.66 bn) followed by China with $61.8 bn (£45.05 bn).
The top global hubs attracting these investments were the San Francisco Bay Area ($100.9 bn or £73.54 bn), New York ($47.5 bn or £34.62 bn), Greater Boston Region ($29.9 bn or £21.79 bn), London ($25.5 bn or £18.59), Bangalore ($18.6 bn or £13.56 bn), Beijing ($13.6 bn or £9.91 bn) and Shanghai ($13.4 bn or £9.77 bn).
In terms of unicorns or startups valued at more than $1bn produced in 2021, 133 such firms came from the Bay Area, 69 from New York, 21 from the Greater Boston Area.
Bangalore had a record year, producing 16 new unicorn companies, with London producing more new unicorns than in any previous year at 20.
Akshay Chaturvedi, founder and CEO of Delhi-based tech firm Leverage Edu, said: “London over the years has established itself as a top hub for talent across multiple domains. For a customer first, tech driven company like ours, it is only natural to establish our biggest international office in London.”
“The quality and diversity of talent here is unmatched. I would like to thank London and Partners for helping us in the start of this amazing journey.”
Eileen Burbidge, partner at London VC firm Passion Capital added: “London and the rest of the UK’s tech sector continues to go from strength to strength and (it) means that the UK is now competing on the global stage.”
(PTI)
