Startup growth in B2C continues to see upward trend

Elaborating on the Startup ecosystem, the Economic Survey maintained that growth in the new economy cannot be fostered without an ecosystem that rewards innovation and entrepreneurship. It stated that policy ambiguities can impact investments by dampening the 'animal spirits' in the economy.

The survey added that India is ranked third in the world in the start-up ecosystem, and has many enterprises developing solutions aimed at managing and solving urban challenges. While a majority of these are tech- start-ups concerned with e-commerce and consumer products and services, 2018 was touted as the year of food start-ups. It also states that B2C(business to consumer) start-ups concerned with easing public service delivery and driving efficiencies, whether in waste, water or energy, are slowly emerging.

The survey states that fundraising in startups has increased from $4.3 billion in 2017 to $ 7.5 billion in 2018. However, it points out that the number of VC(venture capital) deals has come down from 439 in 2017 to 360 in 2018. Firms that raised the most money in 2018 were Oyo rooms($0.9 billion), Byju's($0.5 billion), Paytm Mall($0.45 billion), followed by food tech players Zomato and Swiggy.

In terms of startup sectors that garnered the most capital in 2018, the survey states that retail continued to lead the pack, getting $2.09 billion, followed closely by the emerging food tech($1.65 billion) and fintech with $1.4 billion dollars. Artificial intelligence and mobile bought up the rear of the list with investments of $0.42 billion and $0.38 billion respectively.

As far as Indian unicorns are concerned, Flipkart with a post-money valuation of $15.51 billion, Oyo Rooms with a valuation of $4.18 billion, Ola ($2.8 billion) and Byju's ($3.02 billion dominated the charts. Meanwhile, startups such as Rivigo with a post-money valuation of $0.92 billion, Billdesk($ 0.78 billion), followed by BigBasket($ 0.72 billion) and Delhivery ($ 0.60 billion) on track to become the newest unicorns.

The survey also states that private investment in B2C startups is much higher than investment in B2B startups. The survey states that while investment in the B2C sector was $ 7.5 billion in 2018, investment in the B2B sector was recorded at $3.5 billion.