A panel discussion on start-up funding on Friday at the Huddle Global 2023, organised by the Kerala Startup Mission, focussed on the potential of smaller cities to attract investments in start-ups. Anil Joshi, managing partner of Unicorn India Ventures, made a projection that 50% of the investment portfolios of all venture capitalists would be from Tier II and III cities of India by 2025.
He made a strong plea to other investors to look beyond major tech hubs like Bengaluru and Gurgaon and park their funds in nascent enterprises in smaller cities with high growth potential. In the last financial year, fund flow into start-ups saw a dramatic decrease across the nation and Kerala was no exception, he noted. However, in Kerala the downslide was mostly on the top of the pyramid or big ticket deals, and there were enough funding activities at the bottom of the pyramid made up of early-stage firms.
