72% Fewer Indian Fintech Startups Incorporated In 2023 Than In 2021

Fintech Startups on Declining Trend in India?

The Indian fintech sector witnessed a sharp decline in the number of new startups incorporated in 2023, compared to the previous two years, according to a report by Growthpal, a mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deal-sourcing platform¹². The report attributed the drop to the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the regulatory uncertainty, and the intense competition in the fintech space.

The Numbers

The report revealed that only 20 fintech startups were incorporated in India in 2023, which was 72.6% lower than the 73 startups incorporated in 2021, and 55.55% lower than the 45 startups incorporated in 2022¹². The report excluded the data for startups with less than 10 employees or without a website or a LinkedIn page.

The report also showed that there were 30 acquisition deals in the Indian fintech space in 2023, compared to 37 deals in 2022 and 29 deals in 2021¹². Out of these 30 deals, 20 were done by large companies with over 1,000 employees or funding of over $50 million, six were done by companies with more than 500 employees and over $20 million in funding, and five were done by smaller companies¹².

Some of the notable acquisition deals in 2023 were:

• Bridge2Capital, a digital lending platform for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), was acquired by IIFL Finance, a non-banking financial company (NBFC)¹².
• FinFort, a fintech startup that provides credit scoring and risk management solutions, was acquired by Yubi, a digital banking platform¹².
• ORO Wealth, a wealth management platform for retail investors, was acquired by InCred Capital, a diversified financial services group¹².

The Reasons

The report cited several reasons for the decline in the number of new fintech startups in 2023, such as:

• The COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted the economic activity and consumer behavior, and reduced the demand and supply of financial services¹².
• The regulatory uncertainty, which created challenges and barriers for launching and operating fintech ventures, especially in the areas of data privacy, cybersecurity, consumer protection, and compliance¹².
• The intense competition, which increased the entry and survival costs for fintech startups, and led to market consolidation and dominance by the established players¹².

The Future

The report also highlighted the key trends and opportunities that are likely to shape the future of the Indian fintech sector in 2024 and beyond, such as:

• The disruption by artificial intelligence (AI) in financial services, which will enable fintech startups to offer more personalized, efficient, and innovative solutions to the customers¹².
• The rise of digital lending marketplaces through open banking and application programming interface (API), which will facilitate fintech startups to access and share data and services with multiple financial institutions and platforms¹².
• The increasing significance of sustainable solutions for fintech, which will help fintech startups to address the industry challenges and remain competitive, while also contributing to the social and environmental goals¹².

The report concluded that the Indian fintech sector is still in its nascent stage, and has a huge potential for growth and innovation, given the large and diverse market, the increasing digital adoption, and the supportive government policies¹². However, the report also cautioned that the fintech startups will have to overcome the existing and emerging hurdles, and adapt to the changing customer needs and expectations, in order to succeed and thrive in the post-pandemic era¹².