Kerala-based startups witnessed a big boost in funding in the ‘seeding stage’ in 2023, according to the Tracxn Geo Annual Report.
The data intelligence platform mentioned that Kerala’s startups attracted seed-stage investments worth $26.2 million in 2023 as against $18.7 million raised in 2022 with a 40% surge on a year-on-year basis. Avaana Capital Advisors, 9Unicorns, and Huddle were the most active investors in seed-stage rounds, according to Tracxn Technologies’s Kerala Tech 2023 report.
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Overall, the Kerala-based startups raised $33.2 million in 2023, an uptick of 15% increase from $28.9 million raised in 2022.
However, the early-stage funding dropped 32% to $7 million in 2023 from $10.3 million in 2022. The Kerala startup ecosystem has not recorded any late-stage funding in the last five years.
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Among the sectors, the Food & Agriculture Tech-related startups saw a 266% spike in funding to $7.4 million in 2023 from $2 million in 2022. The Retail sector secured total funding of $3.9 million in 2023. Fundings in the ed-tech sector in Kerala-based startups declined to $3.47 million in 2023 from $7.2 million in 2022.
Among the cities, Kochi took the lead in funding, accounting for 87% of the total funds raised in the state. Kochi-based startups raised $29 million, followed by those based in Alappuzha and Thiruvananthapuram raised $4 million and $709K respectively.
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Further, the Kerala tech startup ecosystem witnessed six acquisitions in 2023, a slight improvement from two during the previous year.
Physics Wallah acquired Xylem Learning for $61 million. Radiant Cash Management acquired Kochi’s Acemoney, VRIZE acquired Thirubanthpuram’s Perfomatix, CareStack acquired Waybeo, and Gharienin Group acquired Kozhikode-based Bentlon last year, respectively.
Kerala Tech startup ecosystem stands at 11th place among the other startup landscapes in India with an overall funding of $354 million to date. The Government of Kerala has established the KSUM (The Kerala Startup Mission) agency for the development of its startup ecosystem.
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Published: 15 Feb 2024, 02:40 PM IST