Indian Web3 startups raised $564 million in investment activity in 2024, a significant increase from the previous year. India currently boasts the fastest growing developer community, and is projected to surpass the US by 2028.
It’s still below the peak of 2022
In 2024, Indian web3 startups raised $564 million from $270 million the previous year, with investments in the infrastructure sector taking on a disproportionate share of the total. However, as shown in the latest report from Hashed Engerned on the Web3 landscape in India, the funds raised by Web3 startups have not reached the $1.4 billion raised in 2022.
The Hashed Emergent Report found that the number of cash transactions recorded over the past year was 43% higher than those closed in 2023. Accelerators, Layer 1 and 2 ecosystems, and Global Web3 funds contributed to a surge in closure agreements.
Commenting on the growth of the infrastructure sector, the report states, “more than 200% of the capital raised primarily to fund AI, middleware and data tools projects.”
“This sector (infrastructure) led to the founders of India, who settled overseas, sought funding for global category-defined companies such as Eigenlayer, Centient and Avail. Additionally, other new sectors such as Depin and Baas have also raised funding as investors increasingly see a decentralized future in a time of AI, where adjustment costs are likely to be reduced.”
Meanwhile, the financial sector of India’s Web3 industry has also increased its investment activity by $86 million, which is more than 50% of its investment activity, the first increase since 2021. Data shows that it peaked at $640 million, with capital allocated to the financial sector appearing to have bottomed in 2023. The report attributes the apparent recovery to liquid reconstruction, real-world asset tokenization and multi-chain financial tools.
Regarding developer activity, the data shows that India had the fastest growing developer community after the number of open source developers increased to 4.5 million. This number wars the total number of such developers in the following four top ranked countries: According to the report, India is making the US leap and is moving forward with the course with the largest developer community by 2028.
