India Is 2nd Largest Market Globaly For Investments In Fitness Tech Startups

From the year 2010 to now, the Indian technology startups landscape has seen a phenomenal growth towards creation of innovative startups. It now houses 4,750 tech startups — the highest number in the world after the United States and Britain [Read More]. Now according to a new study by CB Insights, India is the second largest market globally for investments in fitness tech startups, bagging $63 million.

US-based companies have received the highest funding with about 64% ($1.5 billion) of total global deal share $2.4 billion since 2013 from VCs.

After the US (64%), came in India with 7% deals, Canada with 5%, UK and China with 3% each, and Germany with 2%. Large deals above $1 million in India, include CureFit ($46 million), HealthifyMe ($7 million), HUG Innovations ($5 million), Boltt Sports Technologies ($1million), Fitternity ($1million), MobieFit Technologies ($1 million), Fitpass ($2 million). The largest fitness tech deal outside the US went to Munich-based fitness startup eGym, which produces cloud-connected gym equ ipment, in a $45 million series C round in the first quarter of 2016. The round saw participation from Bayern Kapital, High-Tech Grunderfonds, Highland Europe, and HPE Growth Capital.

The most well-funded fitness tech company outside of the US is also eGym, which has raised $60 million total in disclosed funding across two rounds a $15 million series A in the third quarter of 2014 and $45 million series C last year.

"Notable deals include Bengaluru-based CureFit's recent $25 million series B funding in the third quarter of 2017 and Malaysia-based fitness subscription startup KFit's $12 million Series A round in the first quarter of 2016," it added.

Founded by former Myntra and Flipkart executives -- Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori, CureFit is one of the better known startups in the industry and has signed on actor Hrithik Roshan in a Rs100-crore endorsement deal. The startup has both online and offline channels for healthcare.

To recall, CB Insights -- in a separate report also revealed that India is home to the second highest number of unicorn startups in the world, outside of the US [Read More Here].

CB Insights Reveals The Fintech 250 List

CB Insights  named CreditMantri to the  Fintech 250, a select group of emerging private companies working on groundbreaking financial technology. CB Insights CEO and co-founder, Anand Sanwal, revealed the Fintech 250 companies during The Future of Fintech, a gathering of the world's largest financial institutions, best fintech startups, and most active venture investors.

CB Insights aggregate and analyze massive amounts of data and use machine learning, algorithms and data visualization to help corporations replace the three Gs (Google searches, gut instinct and guys with MBAs*) so they can answer massive strategic questions using probability not punditry.

With backing from the National Science Foundation and venture capital investors, they mine terabytes of data and knowledge contained in patents, venture capital financing, M&A transactions, hiring, startup and investor websites, news sentiment, social media chatter, and more.

The CB Insights research team selected the Fintech 250 companies based on several factors including data submitted by the companies and the company’s Mosaic Score. The Mosaic Score, based on CB Insights’ National Science Foundation-funded algorithm, measures the overall health and growth potential of private companies. Through this evidence-based, statistically-driven approach, the Mosaic Score can help predict a company’s momentum, market health and financial viability.

Commenting on the development, CB Insights CEO Anand Sanwal, said, “The financial services industry will see more change in the next 10 years than it has in the last 100. And that transformation is being driven by a group of smart insurgent startup companies. The Fintech 250 are the most promising of these insurgents. They are bringing emerging technologies and business models to financial services that will permanently change the way we handle money and do business.”

Quick facts on the Fintech 250:

• These 250 emerging private companies have raised $14 Bn across 240 deals in 2016.


• Applications of their technology include breakthroughs in insurance, lending, payments, human resources, real estate, and much more.


• More than 2,000 companies were nominated or applied for the Fintech 250 (only 8% were selected).


• Ribbit Capital has backed 17 of the Fintech 250 companies, while Andreesen Horowitz and Goldman Sachs backed 9.


• Twenty-three Fintech 250 companies have reached a valuation of $1B or more.


• 23 countries are represented among the Fintech 250 companies.

CreditMantri is a Chennai-based fintech startup focused on enabling efficient credit decisions for borrowers and lenders. It was created by a team of 3 ex-bankers with the intent to change the way credit is delivered in India by leveraging the power of technology and the digital medium - Ranjit Punja, R Sudarshan and Gowri Mukherjee.

Startup aims to empower consumers to know their Credit potential and benefit from this knowledge. On the CreditMantri site, customers can access their Credit Scores, learn how they can improve their Credit health, resolve past issues, reduce current borrowing costs and in the process discover products best matched to their credit profile. The website provides the borrowers better control over their credit health by educating and hand-holding them to create or improve their credit scores and eventually discover relevant lender products.

“At CreditMantri, we have always aspired to become India’s largest and most inclusive credit facilitator and this acknowledgment validates the fact that we are headed in the right direction. India stands at the precipice of immense data infusion given the current digital shift. Digitalization of banking & finance, along with the surge in first-time borrowers is a great enabler for efficient credit decision making for lenders and borrowers,” said Ranjit Punja, CEO and Co-founder, CreditMantri.

Companies such as Paytm, Capital Float, Lending Kart, Indifi and Perfios, from India joined CreditMantri in being recognized for their innovative technology in front of an audience of 1000 senior executives from around the world.

India Ranked 3rd in Countries With Most Unicorns, and More

According to a new market map by CB Insights, there are 197 companies in the world that can be currently identified as "unicorns" as they have earned a valuation of $1 billion and above. Of these 197, 22 new unicorns were added this year (till 26/05/17) alone signalling a good time for the Global Startup Industry. The map also highlighted that India with 4 per cent of the world's unicorns based out of its land, is ranked 3rd in countries with most unicorns.

The unicorns, which are collectively valued at a jaw-dropping $679 billion and have raised a whopping $142 billion in funding, belong to 13 verticals, which includes: E-Commerce/Marketplace, Internet Software & Services, FinTech, Social, Cybersecurity, On-Demand, Big Data, Healthcare, Media, Hardware, Mobile Software & Services, Real Estate and Other. The other category includes companies functioning within AR/VR, ed tech, and aerospace categories, among others.

Top 3 Sectors For Unicorns

According to CB Insights' map, the top three most crowded markets for unicorns are: e-commerce (17 per cent), internet software & services (14 per cent) and fintech (11 per cent).

The most valuable company in the e-commerce/marketplace category is Airbnb ($29B), while Infor and Dropbox are the two most valuable companies operating in internet software & services, worth $10B and $9.4B, respectively. China’s Lu.com ($18.5B) is the most valuable private fintech company, followed by Stripe ($9.2B).

Having 54 per cent of the world's unicorn based out of its land, United States acquires the number one rank on the list of countries with most unicorns. It is followed by China for the second spot with 23 per cent of the world's unicorns. India shares the third spot with the United Kingdom with each having 4 per cent share out of the total 197 unicorns. Germany and South Korea with 2 per cent each take the fourth spot. The map also highlights the fact that no other country in the world except the ones mentioned above have three or more private companies with a valuation of at least $1 billion.

According to map, the world's Top 5 Global Unicorns are:

1. Uber- With a valuation of $68 billion, the US-based ride-hailing superpower acquires the number one spot. The company, which is currently locked in a leadership battle with homegrown Olacabs in India is the most valuable private company in the world.

2. Didi Chuxing- With a valuation of $50 billion, China's ride-hailing startup Didi, which rose to worldwide fame last year for driving out ride-hailing superpower Uber from its country, became Asia's most valuable startup this year in April when it raised more than $5.5 billion from investors, scoring the single largest round of funding on record to bankroll an expansion beyond China and into driver-less technology.

3. Xiaomi- With a valuation of $46 billion, Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi occupies the number third spot on the Top 5 Unicorns list.

4. Airbnb- With a valuation of $29 billion, the app and website that connects people seeking lodging with renters who have listed their personal houses, apartments, guest rooms, etc., on either platform, appears fourth on the list.

5. Palantir Technologies- With a valuation of $20 billion, the Silicon Valley-based data company co-founded by billionaire investor Peter Thiel, acquires the fifth place on the list. The startup has earned an almost mythical reputation for its work building tools for the U.S. intelligence community.

Time to Welcome The ‘Decacorns’

For the uninitiated, a decacorn is a company with a valuation of at least $10 billion. Currently, there are fifteen private companies in the world that (7.6% of the global unicorns) can be identified as decacorns and have a valuation of at least $10 billion. Currently, India's homegrown e-commerce giant Flipkart with a valuation of $10 billion is the only Indian startup in the top 15 decacorns list.

Google is Top Acquirer of AI Startups Globally

The acquisition war is on in the tech industry, and when it comes to AI Merger and Acquisition (M&A) activity, tech giant Google has emerged at the top of a recent CB Insights list.

According to data made available by CB Insights, the New York-based company which claims to be the most trusted source in private company data, over 200 private companies that make use of AI algorithms across different verticals have been acquired since the year 2012. Out of these, over 30 acquisitions took place in Q1’17 alone (as of 3/24/17). The quarter also witnessed Ford’s acquisition of Argo AI for a whopping $1B. The deal is being deemed as one of the largest M&A deals till date.

Tech giant Google has had a long AI M&A history. In the year 2013, it acquired DNNresearch, which is a deep learning and neural network startup, from University of Toronto's computer science department. According to tech experts, the DNNresearch helped the search giant in making major upgrades to its much-loved image search feature. Then a year later in 2014, Google caused major ripples in the tech world when it purchased Deep Mind, which was a little known deep learning startup from Cambridge at that time, for a reported $600M.



The tech giant followed its AI M&A activity in 2016 by acquiring bot platform Api.ai, and visual search startup Moodstock. And more recently, in Q1’17, Google managed to get its hands on Kaggle, a predictive analytics platform.

While Google acquires the first position on CB Insights list which tracks AI M&A from 2012 till Q1’17, the second place has been awarded to Apple, which is followed by Facebook and Intel at third.

With a total of 7 acquisitions in time period from 2012 to Q1'17, Apple can been seen ramping up its M&A activity year by year. It's most recent acquisition was Tel Aviv-based RealFace for a whopping amount of $2M.

Facebook and Intel have tied for third place on the list with 5 acquisitions each. While Intel acquired 3 startups, Itseez, Nervana Systems, and Movidius last year alone, Facebook's recent AI acquisitions include Switzerland-based Zurich Eye and Belarus-based Masquerade.

Though fourth on the list, Twitter is being considered as the most-active AI acquirer as the the company has made 4 major acquisitions in the 2012 to Q1'17 time frame. It's most recent acquisition is an image-processing startup Magic Pony. Twitter is tied with Microsoft for the fourth position on the list. The latter recently picked Genee and a conversational AI startup Maluuba.

American cloud computing company Salesforce, which joined the AI M&A race much later in 2015 with the acquisition of Tempo AI also appears on the CB Insights light. The company has made three acquisitions till date.

Uber, the transportation network company headquartered in San Francisco, is also a part of the AI M&A race and has made two acquisitions till date. It acquired Otto to lead Uber’s self-driving car effort in August last year and acquired Geometric Intelligence to create an AI lab in December last year.

Google is Top Acquirer of AI Startups Globally

The acquisition war is on in the tech industry, and when it comes to AI Merger and Acquisition (M&A) activity, tech giant Google has emerged at the top of a recent CB Insights list.

According to data made available by CB Insights, the New York-based company which claims to be the most trusted source in private company data, over 200 private companies that make use of AI algorithms across different verticals have been acquired since the year 2012. Out of these, over 30 acquisitions took place in Q1’17 alone (as of 3/24/17). The quarter also witnessed Ford’s acquisition of Argo AI for a whopping $1B. The deal is being deemed as one of the largest M&A deals till date.

Tech giant Google has had a long AI M&A history. In the year 2013, it acquired DNNresearch, which is a deep learning and neural network startup, from University of Toronto's computer science department. According to tech experts, the DNNresearch helped the search giant in making major upgrades to its much-loved image search feature. Then a year later in 2014, Google caused major ripples in the tech world when it purchased Deep Mind, which was a little known deep learning startup from Cambridge at that time, for a reported $600M.



The tech giant followed its AI M&A activity in 2016 by acquiring bot platform Api.ai, and visual search startup Moodstock. And more recently, in Q1’17, Google managed to get its hands on Kaggle, a predictive analytics platform.

While Google acquires the first position on CB Insights list which tracks AI M&A from 2012 till Q1’17, the second place has been awarded to Apple, which is followed by Facebook and Intel at third.

With a total of 7 acquisitions in time period from 2012 to Q1'17, Apple can been seen ramping up its M&A activity year by year. It's most recent acquisition was Tel Aviv-based RealFace for a whopping amount of $2M.

Facebook and Intel have tied for third place on the list with 5 acquisitions each. While Intel acquired 3 startups, Itseez, Nervana Systems, and Movidius last year alone, Facebook's recent AI acquisitions include Switzerland-based Zurich Eye and Belarus-based Masquerade.

Though fourth on the list, Twitter is being considered as the most-active AI acquirer as the the company has made 4 major acquisitions in the 2012 to Q1'17 time frame. It's most recent acquisition is an image-processing startup Magic Pony. Twitter is tied with Microsoft for the fourth position on the list. The latter recently picked Genee and a conversational AI startup Maluuba.

American cloud computing company Salesforce, which joined the AI M&A race much later in 2015 with the acquisition of Tempo AI also appears on the CB Insights light. The company has made three acquisitions till date.

Uber, the transportation network company headquartered in San Francisco, is also a part of the AI M&A race and has made two acquisitions till date. It acquired Otto to lead Uber’s self-driving car effort in August last year and acquired Geometric Intelligence to create an AI lab in December last year.

India Ranks 3rd in Global Tech Startup Exits; Tops in Asia

The success of the startup ecosystem is defined by the number of successful startup exits. It acts as one of the best validation of the funding decisions made by investors. And, when it comes to Indian startup ecosystem there were concerns that India wasn't seeing too many exits of startups through mergers & acquisitions (M&As) or IPOs.

In the first six months of 2016, India ranked 3rd in global tech startup exit activity, according to US startup database CB Insights.

Unsurprisingly, the US led the exit activity with 857 M&A and 4 IPOs in the first six months of 2016, followed by the UK with 135. Indian startups witnessed 86 M&As and 2 IPOs. China, with just 15 M&As and 4 IPOs, fell to 11th position from 7th in the second half of 2015.



Every country in the top 5 had exits dominated by the internet sector. Both India and Canada saw mobile exit activity account for 20%+ in the first half of 2016.

Interestingly, 72% of the companies who made exits didn't raise VC or PE money prior to exit. Given the large number of consumer internet companies, every country in the top 5 had exits in the space. In India, 28% of the overall exits were of mobile ventures, the highest among the top 5 countries.



The report said there were over 1,590 exits globally in the first half of 2016, a 17% decline from the same period last year. However, the number of exits in the June quarter, at 820, was a 6% increase over the March quarter. After a lull, the second quarter saw some traction with 16 tech IPOs, including that of US-based personalized healthcare provider Nanthealth and cloud communications company Twilio.

Except for India (28%) and Canada (23%), Mobile exits have slowed down, reaching a 5-quarter low to account for 15% of global tech exits in Q2’16.

Notably, VC-backed exit activity saw a slight increase in Q2’16, globally, with 161 M&A deals and 8 IPOs. The last 3 quarters have trended upwards. However, when looking at the historical trend, we see that Q2’16 still falls below exit activity in Q2’15 (179) and Q2’14 (174).

Over half (53%) of the exits were at valuations less than $50 million, and 26% of the exits was between $50 million and $200 million, according to CB Insights. Only 4% of exits was at over a $1 billion — US-based personalized healthcare company Nanthealth topped the tech exit charts with a valuation of $1.7 billion.

While some of those companies saw successful exits (Twilio, Lytx, Ping Identity etc), there were a number of companies that sold for less than their total funding raised. For example, One Kings Lane raised $229M and sold for $30M while Gilt Groupe raised $284M and sold for $250M.

[Top Image - Shutterstock]

Bangalore Among 4 Fastest Growing Startup Cities In The World

All the Asian countries have a reason to rejoice. According to new data compiled by CB Insights, a research firm, four Asian cities which include Bangalore, Beijing, Shanghai and Tokyo have occupied the top four ranks in terms of the rate at which the VC deals are being made in them. This new accomplishment by the Asian cities validates the point that Asian cities are in fact the fastest growing technology startup hubs in the whole wide world.

The research firm compared tech deals made in the twelve month period ending last month with those in the previous twelve months. Cities which had twenty or more deals were only considered by the research firm.

Beijing saw a 165 percent growth, with the deals increasing by three times, while Tokyo saw a 126 percent growth. The number of deals increased by 81 percent in Shanghai, and Bangalore on the other hand saw a 66 percent rise in its deals.

India saw its three other cities also making the cut into the top 25 positions. Gurgaon, Mumbai and Delhi made it to the top 25 proving the fact that the startup ecosystem and activity is spreading with full force in the country. This accomplishment by the Indian cities also backed a recent study which stated India as the fastest growing startup ecosystem in the world. According to the study, around 800 startups sprout in the country on an annual basis.

The report by CB Insights gives more importance to the growth in the number of deals that the total amount of the investments, as it often gets distorted by a few mega deals. But even if we go by the dollar terms, four Indian cities still made it to the top 20, with Gurgaon sitting at number 5 and Delhi at number 6, all because of the humongous funds inflow by Softbank to taxi app Ola and ecommerce site Snapdeal.

Bangalore acquired the 11^th position on the funding growth list, while Beijing was 20^th, Shanghai 22^nd and Tokyo came in at 27^th position. The list was topped by St. Louis in Missouri, America and followed by Cincinnati, Munich and Los Altos.

With such great number of startups sprouting in the region, Asia can soon turn into the next Silicon Valley of the world.

Bangalore Among 4 Fastest Growing Startup Cities In The World

All the Asian countries have a reason to rejoice. According to new data compiled by CB Insights, a research firm, four Asian cities which include Bangalore, Beijing, Shanghai and Tokyo have occupied the top four ranks in terms of the rate at which the VC deals are being made in them. This new accomplishment by the Asian cities validates the point that Asian cities are in fact the fastest growing technology startup hubs in the whole wide world.

The research firm compared tech deals made in the twelve month period ending last month with those in the previous twelve months. Cities which had twenty or more deals were only considered by the research firm.

Beijing saw a 165 percent growth, with the deals increasing by three times, while Tokyo saw a 126 percent growth. The number of deals increased by 81 percent in Shanghai, and Bangalore on the other hand saw a 66 percent rise in its deals.

India saw its three other cities also making the cut into the top 25 positions. Gurgaon, Mumbai and Delhi made it to the top 25 proving the fact that the startup ecosystem and activity is spreading with full force in the country. This accomplishment by the Indian cities also backed a recent study which stated India as the fastest growing startup ecosystem in the world. According to the study, around 800 startups sprout in the country on an annual basis.

The report by CB Insights gives more importance to the growth in the number of deals that the total amount of the investments, as it often gets distorted by a few mega deals. But even if we go by the dollar terms, four Indian cities still made it to the top 20, with Gurgaon sitting at number 5 and Delhi at number 6, all because of the humongous funds inflow by Softbank to taxi app Ola and ecommerce site Snapdeal.

Bangalore acquired the 11^th position on the funding growth list, while Beijing was 20^th, Shanghai 22^nd and Tokyo came in at 27^th position. The list was topped by St. Louis in Missouri, America and followed by Cincinnati, Munich and Los Altos.

With such great number of startups sprouting in the region, Asia can soon turn into the next Silicon Valley of the world.

India accounts $427 million in funding from 64 deals in Q1 2014

According to the figures that have come in for Quarter 1 2014, India has accounted $427 million in funding ranging across 64 deals in the tech space. CB Insights, which is a Venture Capital analysis firm, provided these figures in its latest research report.

Large funding deals in e-commerce sites like Snapdeal and Flipkart have helped Indian Tech funding in crossing $1.3 billion across 266 deals. This figure is up by 21 % on a deal basis versus the previous four quarters (Quarter 2 2012-Quarter 1 2013) and 69% more on a year on year funding basis.

According to the Venture Capital analysis firm, the rise in numbers is being largely headed by huge investments in the e-commerce firms. This includes three separate funding rounds for popular e-commerce site Snapdeal for over $255 million and a $360 million cumulative Series E for Flipkart.

The rise in the number of deals projects to the clear influx of initial stage venture capital in the country. This has also accounted for about 82 % of all the tech deals in the past 4 quarters. This figure can be seen as a positive sign for start-ups in India.

Bangalore has superseded major cities like Mumbai and Delhi-NCR in getting dollars and deals. The city is responsible for 39 percent of all India Tech funding. Online fashion and lifestyle e-commerce site Myntra’s $50 million Series E and Flipkart’s $360 million Series E accounted for 31% of all funding in the country.

With over $300 million across 30 deals, New Delhi acquired the second position and accounted for 23% of tech funding.

500Startups left all the investors in the India technology companies behind by having 20 investments over the last 4 quarters. Blume Ventures, which is a Mumbai based see venture, came in second while Accel Partners acquired the third position.

The research report presented by CB Insights also stated that the majority of the country’s largest fundraises in 2013 have been for e-commerce companies. The e-commerce industry is responsible for about 72% of all funding to the tech firms in the last four quarters, with the Internet Software and Services and Mobile Software and services firms filling up the Top 3.

India accounts $427 million in funding from 64 deals in Q1 2014

According to the figures that have come in for Quarter 1 2014, India has accounted $427 million in funding ranging across 64 deals in the tech space. CB Insights, which is a Venture Capital analysis firm, provided these figures in its latest research report.

Large funding deals in e-commerce sites like Snapdeal and Flipkart have helped Indian Tech funding in crossing $1.3 billion across 266 deals. This figure is up by 21 % on a deal basis versus the previous four quarters (Quarter 2 2012-Quarter 1 2013) and 69% more on a year on year funding basis.

According to the Venture Capital analysis firm, the rise in numbers is being largely headed by huge investments in the e-commerce firms. This includes three separate funding rounds for popular e-commerce site Snapdeal for over $255 million and a $360 million cumulative Series E for Flipkart.

The rise in the number of deals projects to the clear influx of initial stage venture capital in the country. This has also accounted for about 82 % of all the tech deals in the past 4 quarters. This figure can be seen as a positive sign for start-ups in India.

Bangalore has superseded major cities like Mumbai and Delhi-NCR in getting dollars and deals. The city is responsible for 39 percent of all India Tech funding. Online fashion and lifestyle e-commerce site Myntra’s $50 million Series E and Flipkart’s $360 million Series E accounted for 31% of all funding in the country.

With over $300 million across 30 deals, New Delhi acquired the second position and accounted for 23% of tech funding.

500Startups left all the investors in the India technology companies behind by having 20 investments over the last 4 quarters. Blume Ventures, which is a Mumbai based see venture, came in second while Accel Partners acquired the third position.

The research report presented by CB Insights also stated that the majority of the country’s largest fundraises in 2013 have been for e-commerce companies. The e-commerce industry is responsible for about 72% of all funding to the tech firms in the last four quarters, with the Internet Software and Services and Mobile Software and services firms filling up the Top 3.