Valuing Start-ups- Part I

Abstract

The start-ups in India, as in other parts of the world, are having a dream run over the past four years. The startup India campaign of the Government was able to create a friendly ecosystem that has emboldened young minds to innovate, take risk, raise funds, and flourish. Private equity and venture capital funds are chasing startups that have massively grown in scale, irrespective of whether the idea is really disruptive. During the first quarter of 2018, startups and growth-stage ventures in India, excluding Flipkart and Paytm, have raised more than $2 billion from private equity market (Table 1). Notable among them are Bigbasket ($300 million), Zomato ($200 million), Gaana ($115 million), and Swiggy ($100 million). Tech-based retail raised almost $700 million in past three months, closely followed by Finance (including FinTech).