Hyderabad: After the shock dealt by the great funding winter of 2023, Hyderabad’s tech startup ecosystem bounced back with a bang in 2024. Hyderabad’s startups saw a 160% jump in funding in 2024, hitting $571 million as compared to a mere $220 million in 2023, when funding shrank from $414 million in 2022.
This funding was raised through 81 rounds, which included 24 Series-A rounds and 20 first-time funded companies, with six startups joining the soonicorn club in 2024, according to the Tracxn Geo Annual Report – Telangana Tech – 2024. Hyderabad’s tech ecosystem also saw two startups, BikeWo and HRHNext, take the capital markets route to raise funds.
The good news is this funding surge for Hyderabad’s startup ecosystem came at a time when funding in India’s startup capital, Bengaluru, shrank 25% to $3.7 billion in 2024 from $4.9 billion in 2023, albeit on a much larger scale than Hyderabad.
Former Nasscom chairman BVR Mohan Reddy pointed out that Hyderabad’s visibility has increased and the city is now gathering momentum as a startup hub.
In a sign of Hyderabad’s startup ecosystem maturing slowly but surely, late-stage funding saw a whopping 701% surge to hit $297 million, compared to $37 million in 2023. This was followed by early-stage funding, which grew 73% to $233 million compared to $135 million in 2023, as per the report.
Satheesh Andhra, managing partner, venture capital firm Endiya Partners, said the bulk of capital in Hyderabad’s startup ecosystem is now going to late-stage deals, which is a sign of the ecosystem maturing.
“The quantum of capital for each deal may be lower, but Hyderabad’s share in the overall startup funding pie is increasing. We are not yet as close to Bengaluru, Delhi, and Mumbai, but it’s only getting bigger and stronger. In fact, the last four or five deals we did were all in Hyderabad,” he said.
However, seed-stage funding fell 16% to $40.6 million in 2024 compared to $48.2 million in 2023, according to the Tracxn report. The bad news is it was only one single blockbuster deal that accounted for more than half of Hyderabad’s total startup funding in 2024 – the blockbuster $297 million funding of Apollo 24/7, the online pharmacy arm of Apollo Hospitals group, by private equity giant Advent International in April 2024.
The healthtech emerged as the dominant sector in 2024, securing $300 million in funding, a 2,139% increase from 2023 largely driven by Apollo 24/7 that accounted for 99% of the sector’s funding in 2024. The fintech sector also showed impressive growth, raising $105 million, a 91% increase from 2023. However, the enterprise applications sector saw a decline, raising only $57.5 million, down 28% from the previous year.
With this, Telangana’s tech startup system, which has around 8,396 companies, has seen a total fundraise of $3.4 billion so far, with two unicorns with a cumulative valuation of $2.4 billion and 14 soonicorns.
Former T-Hub CEO and Abyro Capital advisor Mahankali Srinivas Rao said that even as the number of deals in Hyderabad has gone up, the ecosystem is starting to see more VCs from outside the city putting their money in startups here, which is a good sign.
“People are starting to recognise that there are some solid companies being built in Hyderabad, but the negative aspect is that though Hyderabad boasts one of the largest numbers of billionaires in the country, we are still not seeing large participation from them in the startup ecosystem,” added Rao, who is also an adjunct professor at IIM Raipur.
TOP FIVE DEALS
Company — Sector — Round — Funding raised (in $ million)
Apollo 24/7 — Healthtech — PE — 297
Vivifi — Fintech — Series -B — 75
Adonmo — OOH — Series-B — 25
Qapita — Software — Series-A — 17
Bhanzu — Edtech — Series-B — 17
Other top five funding rounds included fintech player Vivifi India’s $75 million Series-B funding by US-based alternative finance player BP in VPF, out-of-home advertising player Adonmo’s $25 million Series-B round, equity management software player Qapita’s $17 million Series-A, and edtech player Bhanzu’s $17 million Series-B funding.
Other funding rounds of over $10 million: Way2News ($14 million), Recykal ($13 million), Equal ($10 million), and Sid’s Farm ($10 million).
Startups that received less than $10 million: Troo Good, Dhruva Space, Marut Drones, Hala Mobility, ByteXL, Liquidnitro Games, Plane, Altmin, Fruitoholic, Constelli, Perceptyne, Housr, Srichakra Polyplast, and Cornext.
This funding was raised through 81 rounds, which included 24 Series-A rounds and 20 first-time funded companies, with six startups joining the soonicorn club in 2024, according to the Tracxn Geo Annual Report – Telangana Tech – 2024. Hyderabad’s tech ecosystem also saw two startups, BikeWo and HRHNext, take the capital markets route to raise funds.
The good news is this funding surge for Hyderabad’s startup ecosystem came at a time when funding in India’s startup capital, Bengaluru, shrank 25% to $3.7 billion in 2024 from $4.9 billion in 2023, albeit on a much larger scale than Hyderabad.
Former Nasscom chairman BVR Mohan Reddy pointed out that Hyderabad’s visibility has increased and the city is now gathering momentum as a startup hub.
In a sign of Hyderabad’s startup ecosystem maturing slowly but surely, late-stage funding saw a whopping 701% surge to hit $297 million, compared to $37 million in 2023. This was followed by early-stage funding, which grew 73% to $233 million compared to $135 million in 2023, as per the report.
Satheesh Andhra, managing partner, venture capital firm Endiya Partners, said the bulk of capital in Hyderabad’s startup ecosystem is now going to late-stage deals, which is a sign of the ecosystem maturing.
“The quantum of capital for each deal may be lower, but Hyderabad’s share in the overall startup funding pie is increasing. We are not yet as close to Bengaluru, Delhi, and Mumbai, but it’s only getting bigger and stronger. In fact, the last four or five deals we did were all in Hyderabad,” he said.
However, seed-stage funding fell 16% to $40.6 million in 2024 compared to $48.2 million in 2023, according to the Tracxn report. The bad news is it was only one single blockbuster deal that accounted for more than half of Hyderabad’s total startup funding in 2024 – the blockbuster $297 million funding of Apollo 24/7, the online pharmacy arm of Apollo Hospitals group, by private equity giant Advent International in April 2024.
The healthtech emerged as the dominant sector in 2024, securing $300 million in funding, a 2,139% increase from 2023 largely driven by Apollo 24/7 that accounted for 99% of the sector’s funding in 2024. The fintech sector also showed impressive growth, raising $105 million, a 91% increase from 2023. However, the enterprise applications sector saw a decline, raising only $57.5 million, down 28% from the previous year.
With this, Telangana’s tech startup system, which has around 8,396 companies, has seen a total fundraise of $3.4 billion so far, with two unicorns with a cumulative valuation of $2.4 billion and 14 soonicorns.
Former T-Hub CEO and Abyro Capital advisor Mahankali Srinivas Rao said that even as the number of deals in Hyderabad has gone up, the ecosystem is starting to see more VCs from outside the city putting their money in startups here, which is a good sign.
“People are starting to recognise that there are some solid companies being built in Hyderabad, but the negative aspect is that though Hyderabad boasts one of the largest numbers of billionaires in the country, we are still not seeing large participation from them in the startup ecosystem,” added Rao, who is also an adjunct professor at IIM Raipur.
TOP FIVE DEALS
Company — Sector — Round — Funding raised (in $ million)
Apollo 24/7 — Healthtech — PE — 297
Vivifi — Fintech — Series -B — 75
Adonmo — OOH — Series-B — 25
Qapita — Software — Series-A — 17
Bhanzu — Edtech — Series-B — 17
Other top five funding rounds included fintech player Vivifi India’s $75 million Series-B funding by US-based alternative finance player BP in VPF, out-of-home advertising player Adonmo’s $25 million Series-B round, equity management software player Qapita’s $17 million Series-A, and edtech player Bhanzu’s $17 million Series-B funding.
Other funding rounds of over $10 million: Way2News ($14 million), Recykal ($13 million), Equal ($10 million), and Sid’s Farm ($10 million).
Startups that received less than $10 million: Troo Good, Dhruva Space, Marut Drones, Hala Mobility, ByteXL, Liquidnitro Games, Plane, Altmin, Fruitoholic, Constelli, Perceptyne, Housr, Srichakra Polyplast, and Cornext.
