In line with the tight funding environment, fundraising in India’s venture capital market has slowed significantly since last year. The first half of 2024 saw the close of 21 new venture capital funds with only $1.3 billion in commitments, according to a report by Pitchbook, while the entire 2023 has seen 23 new funds raising $1.7 billion in total. For perspective, between 38-49 new venture capital funds were closed every year since 2015, with commitments between $2.4-$4.5 billion. However, 2022 was an outlier year. The post-covid startup funding boom, induced by low interest rates globally, saw 78 new VC funds raise $11 billion in commitment, a big chunk of which could not be deployed during the funding winter that followed, leaving sufficient dry powder for whenever funding levels pick up. While the outlook for India’s venture capital market is optimistic, low domestic fundraising is still a challenge, which may delay a rebound to the high activity levels seen several years ago, said Kyle Stanford, lead analyst, venture capital, in the report.