Venture Capital Market Saw Investments of Over $2b in Q3: KPMG

India’s venture capital market saw large sequential growth during the third quarter of 2018 with over $2 billion being invested, according to a report by KPMG.

“More than doubling the tally observed in Q2, the Indian venture ecosystem saw well over USD 2 billion invested last quarter, even as aggregate volume remains subdued,” KPMG said in its Venture Pulse Q3 2018 report.

It added that hotel booking company Oyo Rooms alone accounted for $1 billion of this. The funding round -- led by SoftBank Investment Advisers (SBIA) through SoftBank Vision Fund -- had positioned it as India’s second most valuable technology start-up after Paytm. Oyo has now leapt well into unicorn status with a $5 billion valuation.

Even though OYO’s fund raise comprised a large share of that, it suggests that India’s ongoing focus on consumer-oriented enterprises is still going strong, the report said.

India also saw several USD 100 million-plus mega deals this quarter, including $225 million by Udaan, $120 million by CureFit and $100 million by BookMyShow, it added.

Besides, online marketplaces continued to gain a lot of traction during the quarter under review, with second-hand car company Cars24 raising $50 million. The top 10 financing rounds in the third quarter in the Asia Pacific region were Singapore’s ridesharing platform Grab that raised $2 billion, followed by Bitmain from Beijing and Oyo Rooms, with each raising $1 billion each.