Graphic: Paras Jain/MintAfter two successive years of poor investment activity, start-up funding may start improving later this year as secondary share sales, strong performances by Flipkart and other large internet firms and an expanding internet user base drive an improvement in investor sentiment. Now, the trigger for an improvement in start-up funding could be the proposed multi-billion-dollar deal between American retailer Walmart Inc and Flipkart, investors said. If the deal goes through, many influential start-up investors including Tiger Global Management, Accel Partners and Naspers will see massive gains on their investments. Additionally, macro-economic and political factors such as an interest rate hikes in the US, the performance of stock markets (for domestic LPs) and the national elections next year could affect start-up funding. “The funding market will improve this year for sure but for a 2015-type scenario to happen again, the number of VC firms will have to increase and the start-up formation will also have to increase dramatically.

Source: Mint March 19, 2018 19:30 UTC