Indian startups able to withdraw up to $300mn from SVB: Report

NEW DELHI: Indian startups have withdrawn up to $300 million from the collapsed Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) after the Joe Biden government in the US allowed depositors to withdraw their funds from March 13, the media reported.

The Financial Express reported, citing sources, that homegrown startups have processed fund transfers "worth $250-300 million in the past 24 hours".

Industry players said that for funds transfer, firms need to first open new business bank accounts in the US as SVB still hasn't resumed direct foreign transfers.

Sanjay Swamy, managing partner at Prime Venture Partners, was quoted as saying in the report that all their "portfolio companies banking with SVB have been able to move 100 per cent of their money to other US-based banks".

The collapse of SVB in the US had left the Indian startup ecosystem worried. More than 1,000 Indian startups were likely to have exposure to the SVB.

According to recent data by global software-as-a-service (SaaS)-based market intelligence platform Tracxn, SVB had exposure in at least 21 startups in India although it did not reveal the size of the investment in these startups.

Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, on Tuesday interacted with over 100 startups and venture capitalists (VCs), and assured them that the Narendra Modi government is "laser focused" on helping startups navigate through the current global banking crisis.

Chandrasekhar discussed key issues related to the collapse of the SVB with startups and shared how the PM Modi government is "laser focused on ensuring that every startup navigates through this storm".

"The Indian banking system is trusted and robust and startups must start using it," Chandrasekhar told them.