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Indian startups secure $5.85 billion in H1 of 2019

New Delhi, July 23 

With 360 deals, startups in India secured $5.85 billion funding in the first half of 2019, according to a report.

Sequoia Capital emerged as the most active venture capital firm and Indian Angel Network the most active seed stage investor, said the report by DataLabs, research division of Inc42 Media.

"In the context of deal count, a downward trend in the number of funding deals in H1 of 2019 can be observed. The deals were 26.23 per cent less in comparison with H1 of 2017 (488 deals) and 16.47 per cent lower against H1 of 2018 (431 deals)," Ankan Das, Head of DataLabs, said.

"This is an indicator of poor investor confidence," Das said and added, clarity in regulations, like the abolition of angel tax, and sector-specific policies had become necessary for boosting investment. 

E-commerce ($1.03 billion), fintech ($1.01 billion) and transport tech ($800 million) emerged as top sectors in terms of funding in the H1 of 2019, the research showed. Their share in the funding raised was 48.83 per cent. 

In terms of number of deals, fintech (57), enterprise tech (52) and consumer services (40) were top sectors. These three made up 41.39 per cent of all funding deals.

Among the cities, Bengaluru secured the top spot with maximum funding.