Global share of the Indian technology sector has jumped many folds with Bengaluru, the IT capital of the country getting the lion's share, according to the latest findings from London & Partners and Dealroom. Co.
The latest numbers released show that the year 2021 saw a splurge by venture capitalist (VC) in the technology sector, which has improved the overall global ranking from fourth in 2020 to third.
The analysis, conducted jointly by London & Partners and Dealroom.Co also found that Bengaluru attracted $18.6 billion to rank fifth in the world's top global cities for tech VC investment.
Overall, Indian tech VC investment grew nearly three times from $14.9 billion in 2020 to $44.6 billion in 2021 – a year of a worldwide record high for such investments at $675 billion.
The UK ranked fourth with $39.8 billion, with capital London also in fourth place just ahead of Bengaluru as the world's top tech hubs with $25.5 billion.
“The record venture capital investment figures for the UK and India in 2021 demonstrate that tech and innovation are thriving across both regions. With an increasing number of unicorns and exciting tech startups, cities such as London and Bengaluru are now recognised by VCs as some of the best places to find game-changing companies to invest in,” Hemin Bharucha, Country Director – India for London and Partners, the Mayor of London's international trade and investment agency said.
“This is great news for tech businesses across both ecosystems and creates lots of opportunities for collaboration between London and Indian tech hubs – especially in areas of mutual strength such as fintech and edtech. As well as access to high levels of growth capital, London has the talent, customers and a supportive ecosystem tech companies need to scale and we look forward to helping more Indian businesses expand into London in 2022,” he said.
The VC tech investments in 2021 were led by the US at $328.8 billion followed by China at $61.8 billion. The top global hubs attracting these investments were the San Francisco Bay Area ($100.9bn), New York ($47.5bn) Greater Boston Region ($29.9bn), London ($25.5bn),
Bengaluru ($18.6bn), followed by Beijing ($13.6bn) and Shanghai ($13.4bn).
In terms of unicorns – or startups valued at over USD 1bn – produced in 2021, 133 new unicorns came from the Bay Area, 69 from New York, 21 from the Greater Boston Area.
Bengaluru had a record year, producing 16 new unicorn companies, with London producing more new unicorns than in any previous year at 20.
According to the report, the year 2021 has been dubbed a ‘landmark' for London's tech sector, with a large increase in mega rounds ($100m+ rounds), an unprecedented number of exits, more new unicorns than any previous year and over 2.3 times raised compared to 2020 levels.
