Bengaluru outstrips Chinese cities in tech VC funding in 2021: Report

With $18.6 billion in investments, Bengaluru made it to the top-five leading VC funding hubs across the world in 2021 — following San Francisco Bay Area, New York, Greater Boston Region and London. However, it outstripped Beijing ($13.6 billion) and Shanghai ($13.4 billion).

Global tech VC investment into start-ups hit a record level of $675 billion in 2021, doubling the previous all-time high of $340.6 billion in 2020, a report by London & Partners and dealroom.co.

VC investments in 2021 were led by the US at $328.8 billion, followed by China at $61.8 billion and India coming in third with $44.6-billion funding. The United Kingdom ranked fourth at $39.8 billion, followed by Germany at $19.9 billion, says the report.

Hemin Bharucha, Country Director, India, London and Partners, said, “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 start-ups, cities such as London and Bengaluru are recognised by VCs as some of the best places to find game changing companies to invest in.”

Last year was a record year for VC investment into India and Bengaluru with the Indian tech VC investment having grown three times between 2020 and 2021. India also jumped ranks from fourth in 2020 to third globally in 2021.

In terms of unicorns produced in 2021, 133 new unicorns came from the Bay Area, 69 from New York, 21 from the Greater Boston Area. London produced more new unicorns than in any previous year at 20 and Bengaluru also had a record year, producing 16 new unicorns.

While Bengaluru has been the most important technology start-up centre in India over the years, other cities are also catching up. According to a report released by Orios Venture Partners on Thursday, 13 of the total 46 unicorns created in 2021 in India were from Delhi, closely followed by Mumbai at 11. Jaipur joined the unicorn party in 2021 for the first time with CarDekho.