New Delhi : According to media reports Indian startups raised USD 1.04 billion across 124 deals in April 2024. While funding was lower than the USD 1.18 billion raised in March, it marked a 14 per cent year-over-year increase from USD 912 million in April 2023.

Since January, Indian startups have collectively raised close to USD 4 billion. At this pace, total funding in 2024 could cross the USD 11 billion raised last year. Only one startup, PharmEasy, raised over USD 100 million in April.

Bengaluru continued to lead startup activity with 42 deals contributing 26 per cent of the total funding. Delhi-NCR had 30 deals and Mumbai 26 deals, though Mumbai startups topped the funding amount.

April saw nearly a dozen merger and acquisition (M&A) deals, with most undisclosed. Prominent deals included NIIF acquiring a majority stake in iBUS for USD 200 million and Aurionpro acquiring Arya.ai for USD 16.5 million. Other M&As involved Shy Tiger, Orbit, Awign, and Magzter.

Startup layoffs continued with nearly 1,500 employees losing jobs in April, surpassing 1,100 layoffs in Q1 2024. Byjus remained the top job cutter with 500 layoffs, followed by The Good Glamm Group, Healthify, and Scaler with 150 each.

High-profile executive exits also made news, with CEOs departing from Beardo, Paytm Payments Bank, Byjus India, The Good Glamm Group’s D2C brands, and Ola Cabs during the month.