India is the second-largest global venture capital (VC) investment hub for digital shopping companies, growing by a whopping 175 per cent from $8 billion in 2020 to $22 billion in 2021, according to an official analysis released on Wednesday. 

On a global scale, India came in second to the US last year, which attracted $51 billion in investment, followed by China at third with $14 billion and the UK at fourth with $7 billion. 

Within India, Bengaluru comes out on top globally with $14 billion worth of venture capital (VC) investments in digital shopping in 2021, followed by Gurugram at No 7 with $4 billion and Mumbai at No 10 with $3 billion. 

Bengaluru almost tripled its investments from $5 billion in 2020 to take the top spot, ahead of other leading cities in the world – New York City (second), San Francisco (third), London (fourth) and Berlin (fifth). 

According to the London & Partners analysis of Dealroom.co investment data, increasing demand for online purchases during a series of lockdowns across the world during the COVID-19 pandemic led to global investors showing a strong appetite for backing e-commerce companies. 

“Today’s data shows that the UK and India are two of the world’s leading hubs for digital shopping companies with high levels of global investment and unicorns,” said Hemin Bharucha, the country director (II) of London & Partners – the Mayor of London’s international trade and investment agency. 

“It’s fantastic to see Bengaluru emerge a global leader for digital shopping investment last year. This surely creates several opportunities for collaboration with an already strong market in London. As Europe’s largest hub for digital shopping investment, there has never been a better time for India’s strong pool of fast-growing e-commerce companies to choose London as the destination to scale their business outside of their home market,” he said.