With more than 7,000 active startups, accounting for 7.5 per cent of all active startups in the country, women-led new-age businesses have collectively raised $26.4 billion in funding so far, with 2021 being the highest funded year at $6.3 billion, said business intelligence platform Tracxn in its latest report on Friday ahead of this year’s International Women’s Day.
With $26 billion in funding to date, the Indian tech startup ecosystem ranks second after the US in terms of all-time funding raised by companies with women founders.
The report, analysing startups with at least one woman as founder or co-founder in India, noted that India ranked third globally in 2024 in terms of funding raised by startups co-led by women, after the US and the UK, accounting for 3.96 per cent of funding raised by women-led startups across the globe.
Sector-wise, the retail sector leads with women-led startups securing $7.8 billion in all-time funding, followed by $5.4 billion raised by women startups in the edtech sector and $5 billion in enterprise applications space.
With respect to women-led unicorns, the journey has seen highs and lows. In 2021, there were eight unicorns led by women in comparison to three in 2019, four in 2020 and five in 2022. However, 2017, 2023, and 2024 saw no new unicorns, indicating fluctuating momentum.
Similarly, the acquisition count also dropped, with 45 acquisitions of women-led startups in 2021, followed by 36 in 2022, 25 in 2023 and 16 in 2024. Last year, five women-led startups went public: MobiKwik, Usha Financial, Tunwal, Interiors & More, and LawSikho.