Indian startups are turning out to be the darlings for global venture capital funds. The quantum of VC investments into the country has surpassed China as uncertainty grips the latter’s economic landscape.

In the first nine months of the calendar year, global venture capital firms have invested a total of $17.2 billion in Indian startups, a jump of 150 per cent compared to last year. According to reports, VC investment into China’s startup ecosystem increased by 97 per cent this year.

VC investments in Lenskart, Zomato, Byjus’s, Unacademy, Swiggy, PharmEasy, Pine Labs, Zeta, Cred, RazorPay, HealthifyMe, Vedantu, Dunzo, Bira 91, Mamaearth, MyGlamm, Uniphore Software Systems, are among the prominent ones.

In China deal value increased from $34 billion to $67 billion this year, a data collated by the tech intelligence firm CB Insights revealed.

Also read: Venture capital firms flocking to India after China’s Tech Crackdown

“Despite the third wave of Covid-19 pandemic looming large and slow economic recovery, venture capital (VC) investors seem to be reposing faith in the Indian start-ups ecosystem. In fact, Indian start-ups stood next only to Chinese counterparts in terms of VC funding value among the APAC countries during January to July 2021,” GlobalData, a data and analytics company noted.

A report by Nikkei Asia said that “hundreds of venture capital firms from around the world are investing in India for the first time, suggesting a breakout moment for the country's startups but also raising questions about whether the boom will be sustainable.”