BENGALURU: In a sign of the rising opportunities in India, the country outpaced China in the number of deals struck by venture capital (VC) funds in the first quarter of 2015.India saw 69 deals happening in the first quarter as against China’s 66, according to a report by CB Insights, a New York-based firm that tracks VC funding. India saw the most deal growth among Asian countries, at 60% compared to the first quarter of 2014, when the number of deals stood at 43.China was still ahead of India in terms of deal value at $2.99 billion. India’s funding stood at $1.35 billion. For India, this was a rise of 225% over the same quarter of the previous year. Both countries reported a drop in the quantum of money raised from the last quarter of 2014.Japan saw 28 startup deals by VCs during the first quarter. Overall the top 3 countries in Asia accounted for 66% of all deals to VC-backed tech companies in Asia in the first quarter of 2015.Sunil Rao, country head of the startup programme in Google India , said India is on the same trajectory that China was in 2007-08 with respect to the number of startups emerging from the country and the number of internet users. “The country will reach 500 million internet users in two-three years and the gap won’t be much now. Even the GDP growth rates are around the same levels,” he noted.According to the CB Insights, Chinese startups constituted 12 of the top 15 startup deals in Asia while India startups constituted the rest. For the first time, India has raised more than $1 billion for three consecutive quarters. Rao said China would continue to see larger valuations as it is a much larger market.Mohan Kumar, partner, Norwest Venture Partners , said one quarter is too early to say anything about a trend. “Having said that, China has recorded $3 billion in annual investment in the last five years. There are a few positives on the Indian side with the economy picking up steam. If we can replicate China's growth in the last decade by growing at 10%, the catch-up could be possible in a few years. We have to give it 3-4 quarters before saying India is beginning to outshine China,” he said.Sequoia Capital was the most active investor in India in the quarter, the CB Insights report said. The VC firm participated in three of the six largest deals of the quarter - FreeCharge, CarDekho, and NewsHunt. Tiger Global Management was the second most active investor, with multiple early-stage deals to companies including Grofers, News in Shorts, and MoonFrog Labs.“After a big Q4 2014 which featured six $500-million plus rounds, Asian VC-backed tech companies came slightly back down to earth, raising $4.8 billion on 247 deals. The funding total is still the second highest total since 2013, up 95% versus the same quarter a year prior,” the report said.