A couple of years ago, there were worries that India wasn't seeing too many exits of startups through mergers & acquisitions (M&As) or IPOs. But in the first six months of 2016, India saw the third highest tech startup exits, according to US startup database CB Insights.

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India Ranks 3rd In Tech Startup Exits
A couple of years ago, there were worries that India wasn't seeing too many exits of startups
through mergers & acquisitions (M&As) or IPOs. But in the first six months of 2016, India saw
the third highest tech startup exits, according to US startup database CB Insights.
eTailing India Thought Corner
Exits of Tech Startups bring upbeat mood in Startup Ecosystem
The number of successful startup exits acts as one of the best validation of the funding
decisions made by investors. There were concerns that India wasn’t seeing too many exits of
startups through mergers & acquisitions (M&A) or IPOs. But in the first six months of 2016,
India ranked 3rd in global tech startup exit activity, according to US startup database CB
Insights.
Some of the biggest exits we saw this year includes digital payments major PayU’s acquisition of
Citrus. Then, MakeMyTrip managed to raise $180 million from Ctrip and one of the biggest

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news was in online fashion player Myntra’s acquisition of Jabong for $70 million. Every country
featuring in the top 5 in the global list had exits dominated by the internet sector. Both India
and Canada saw busyness in mobile exit activity account for 20%+ of exits in the first half of
2016.
There are several factors that ensure a good exit. One of the most important one is that the
acquirer needs to have deep pockets and the company that is getting acquired needs to add
some value to the acquirer. Shailesh Vickram Singh, Executive Director Seedfund,
quotes: “Consumer internet companies, including Flipkart, Paytm, Voonik, Ola, and Snapdeal
amongst several others are likely to provide exit opportunities to their investors in the next four
years.”
Way ahead
India currently has about 50 million online shoppers and expected to grow to 180 million by
2020. Hitting public markets with this scale could turn out a good idea. Apart from an increased
consumer base, regulators like SEBI are now working to make changes to the listing framework
for tech startups to get listed.
The Indian startup ecosystem has to develop further and mature to see the scale of acquisitions
we find on a global level.