Indian IT sector upsets Chinese applecart in venture capital deals

Venture capital funding in China, which saw a slump last year, witnessed almost a 50% plunge in overall deal volumes and value. As per data from Dow Jones Venture Source, Chinese IT, which was impacted the most, managed only about $200 million worth of deals in 2012 as against $272 million across 120 deals in India.

In 2011, the technology sector in India attracted $367 million across 96 deals, says data from investment research firm Venture Intelligence, against China’s $849 million. While India can take comfort in the fact that the country has managed to come on top this year, the cumulative VC investment over the past three years in the Chinese IT sector is still much ahead of India.

“Over the past few years China has been increasingly attracting more VC funds in the IT sector, usually a strength area of India,” says Pradeep Tagare, director, Intel Capital India, the investment arm of the global chipmaker. The fund, which focuses on the technology space, has invested more than $670 million in China and over $320 million in India since 1998. Globally, the US and Israel hold the top slot in attracting VC funding in IT, followed by China and India.

Investors point out that investment in China is

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