Startup year 2024 under Review

2024: Year in Review

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Year in Review: There’s an Esop fable in Startup Inc’s IPO run:?Initial public offerings (IPOs) of eight new-age internet companies this year?unlocked over Rs 8,500 crore?for employees from their outstanding stock options. Impressive as it is, this pales in comparison to the nearly Rs 34,000 crore in wealth amassed by founders and promoters through equity and share options, as revealed in the companies’ red herring prospectuses (RHPs) ahead of the listings.

Year in Review:?EVs lose the funding race as investors drive a hard bargain:?Funding for India’s electric vehicle (EV) sector has nearly?halved between 2022 and 2024 as policy changes?and declining sales growth prompt investors to push for better unit economics and profitability at companies before committing further capital.

According to data from Venture Intelligence, funding in the EV industry dropped to $586 million in 2024 from $808 million last year, while the number of deals closed stood at 44, similar to a year ago.

Year in Review: At $5 billion, Indian startup’s exit street gets buzzier in 2024:?Risk investors scored exits worth more than?$5 billion from Indian startups in 2024?via secondary transactions, offers for sale in IPOs and public market block deals, as per data collated by ET.

The trends may pick up pace in 2025 as number of new-age IPOs is likely to at least double from nine this year, per people aware of the plans.

Year in Review: These startups shut shop in 2024:?In 2024, Indian startups faced a reckoning. Amid the fanfare of six new unicorns and a thaw in the funding winter, a sobering reality played out -?numerous startups shut shop across various sectors. From edtech to fintech, several ventures fell by the wayside, citing reasons ranging from funding droughts to unsustainable business models.

Year in Review: Zepto's growth, and big moves in quick commerce:?The quick commerce industry has experienced transformative growth, reshaping the way consumers purchase daily essentials. Among its key drivers,?Zepto stands out as a significant contributor to this revolution.

Year in Review | Zomato in 2024: A year of milestones, momentum and controversies:?As 2024 draws to a close, Indian?food delivery giant Zomato stands taller than ever?as a benchmark for India’s tech-driven future. Under CEO Deepinder Goyal’s leadership, the company achieved milestones in profitability, while diversifying its revenue streams in the face of intense competition.

2024 Year in Review: Controversies that riddled the startup ecosystem:?The calendar year 2024 was marked by a string of?controversies for India's startup ecosystem, which raised questions about governance, ethics, and accountability. Allegations of financial mismanagement, corporate governance lapses and concerns around data privacy pushed several startups into the news for the wrong reasons.

Year in Review: India’s startup milestones by the numbers:?India’s?startup ecosystem has created over 1.6 million jobs, with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) recognising 1.57 lakh startups as of December 25, 2024. Of these, more than 73,000 have at least one woman director, reflecting the growing role of women in entrepreneurs.

Tata Sons may infuse fresh funds into ecommerce arm only by mid-2025: Tata Sons may infuse the next round of capital into its ecommerce business, Tata Digital, only in mid-2025. Until then, the new commerce entity will have to rely on internal funding and debt financing to fuel growth, officials familiar with the matter told ET.

Cloud kitchen firms cut losses to cook up healthy numbers: India’s cloud kitchen startups found FY24 to be a more stimulating year, as most of them not just clocked revenue growth but also reduced losses by controlling expenses, including those on marketing and employees, according to the statements of these firms sourced from the Registrar of Companies (RoC).

Ola Electric’s CTO, CMO quit adding to top-level exodus: Two long-time senior executives at Bhavish Aggarwal-led Ola have resigned from the group. Chief technology and product officer Suvonil Chatterjee and chief marketing officer Anshul Khandelwal, who were with the electric two-wheeler maker Ola Electric in their latest roles have quit effective Friday, the firm said in an exchange filing.

AppDynamics founder Jyoti Bansal to step up India play with big tech hiring: Silicon Valley-based serial entrepreneur Jyoti Bansal, who sold his first startup AppDynamics to Cisco for $3.7 billion in 2017, plans to more than double the employee count of his current ventures Harness and Traceable in India to 1,000 in three to four years, up from 400 now. Coforge, Cigniti forge ahead with proposed merger: Coforge and Cigniti Technologies are moving a step ahead toward a planned merger. The two companies have appointed EY and Axis Capital to prepare merger terms, which they intend to propose to their respective shareholders within a fortnight, according to people aware of the matter. Oyo completes G6 Hospitality acquisition from Blackstone Real Estate for $525 million: Hospitality firm Oyo has completed the acquisition of the US-based lodging franchisor G6 Hospitality, the parent company of Motel 6 and Studio 6 brands, from Blackstone Real Estate for $525 million, adding approximately 1,500 franchised hotels across the US and Canada to its portfolio.

Women blast through global tech's glass ceiling in India: Google’s appointment of Preeti Lobana as the head of its Indian operations last week topped a fast-growing trend of women executives taking charge at technology corporations across the country.

Mission FY26: IT’s time to reboot hiring: India’s $254-billion software services industry, traditionally the biggest recruiting sector at local engineering and management campuses, is expected to expand their collective payrolls by up to 12% in FY26, data sourced by ET from staffing firms showed. The industry’s headcount had shrunk in FY24.

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