1 in 2 founders expect fundraising to ease

Pinning Hopes for Future

• Profitability emerged as one of the biggest priority areas for founders

• Founders seek to make necessary cost cuts to attain sustainable profitability

• Founders pin hopes that next 5 years will see all-time highs in terms of IPOs, M&As

New Delhi: One in two founders (50 per cent) in India expect fundraising to get easier in the coming months and 66.5 per cent of them are currently operating with a runway of at least a year, a new report showed on Friday.

According to the 'Elevation Founder Pulse 2023' report, 83 per cent of surveyed founders said now is a good time to be starting up a business in India, with 50 per cent adding there has never been a better time than the current moment to pursue entrepreneurship.

This flies in the face of the recent doom and gloom picture being painted about the startup ecosystem and is a powerful endorsement of the confidence in the India growth story and the strong fundamentals underpinning it.

“Founders are emerging more resilient and wiser from these challenges, reinforcing positive shifts across funding, talent acquisition, profitability and liquidity events,” said Mridul Arora, Partner, Elevation Capital.

With India projected to grow from a $3.5 trillion GDP nation to $7-7.5 trillion GDP by FY 2030/31, founders seem to be excited about catalysing this shift and creating value for all stakeholders, according to the report.

The report consolidated insights from more than 250 founders across stages and sectors, capturing over 20,000 data points on India’s funding landscape, business outlook, operational challenges, recruitment and culture, and regulatory environment.

Profitability emerged as one of the biggest priority areas for founders in the survey, with 18 per cent stating they are already profitable and an additional 58 per cent aspiring to achieve profitability in the near to medium term.

“Founders seek to make necessary cost cuts to attain sustainable profitability by streamlining operations and enhancing fiscal prudence,” the findings showed.

About 38 per cent identified marketing as the area where spending was most curtailed in the recent 12 months.

Meanwhile, in 20 per cent of startups, engineering and product development expenditures were the most significantly reduced.

About 65 per cent of those surveyed highlighted revenue growth among their most pressing concerns.

Founders are hopeful that the next five years will see all-time highs in terms of IPOs and M&As, said the report.