VC funding dropped 19% in India, even as China doubled investments

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That’s the venture capital funding story for India, for now at least. According to the Tech in Asia database, VC funding in the country’s tech industry came up to US$818 million for the first three months of the year. That’s about 19 percent lower than in Q1 2015.

China, meanwhile, doubled its Q1 VC funding this year, leading the broader region away from any signs of a veritable cooldown.

Twenty five startups in India raised series A funding from January to March, compared to thirty five last year, but the number of seed-funded startups grew – 158 to last year’s 90.

Graphic by Tech in Asia’s Andre Gunawan.

Smaller checks

The rate of funding growth has slipped through the year, as markets have matured and fewer VCs write out billion-dollar checks. One of the biggest funding rounds of the quarter was for grocery delivery app Bigbasket, with a US$150 million round.

See: It’s hot in Asia: VC funding doubled year-on-year in Q1 2016

In contrast, Q3 2015 saw multiple deals of US$100 million or more, including OYO Rooms, Pepperfry, and Flipkart, which raised US$700 million.

Graphic by Tech in Asia’s Andre Gunawan.

Graphic by Tech in Asia’s Andre Gunawan.

Growing pains