India has become the third-largest technology startup hub in the world, surpassing Germany and France, according to a report by market intelligence platform Tracxn. In the first nine months of 2025, Indian startups raised a total of $7.7 billion, driven by several large funding rounds. Notable among these were Erisha E Mobility’s $1 billion Series D round, GreenLine’s $275 million Series A, and Infra.Market’s $222 million Series F. Other major investments included funding for companies like Access Healthcare and Groww. The median round size nearly doubled to $1.5 million compared to the previous year, reflecting an upward trend in investment sizes.
However, despite this positive growth, total funding saw a decline of 23% from the $10.1 billion raised during the same period in 2024 and a 6% drop from $8.3 billion in 2023. Seed-stage funding was the hardest hit, falling by 39% year-on-year to $727 million. In contrast, early-stage funding amounted to $2.7 billion, which was 10% lower than 2024 but remained steady compared to 2023. Late-stage funding saw a 27% decline year-on-year, totaling $4.3 billion. Despite this overall funding slowdown, India’s startup ecosystem continues to show signs of maturity, with more acquisitions, IPOs, and unicorns emerging, signaling healthy exit pathways for founders and investors.
The report highlighted that the top-performing sectors were Enterprise Applications, Retail, and Transportation & Logistics Tech. The Enterprise Applications sector attracted $2.3 billion, although this was a slight decline of 6% compared to last year. The Retail sector raised $2 billion, down 18% from 2024 but showing a 15% increase compared to 2023. Meanwhile, the Transportation & Logistics Tech sector saw an uptick, with funding growing by 17% year-on-year to $1.79 billion.
In terms of mergers and acquisitions, India saw 110 deals in the first nine months of 2025, a 15% increase from 2024. The largest deal was the $2 billion acquisition of Resulticks by Diginex, followed by Magma General Insurance’s $516 million acquisition by DS Group and Patanjali Ayurved. Bengaluru led the country in acquisitions with 35 deals, followed by Mumbai, Gurugram, and Delhi.
The period also saw the addition of four new unicorns, bringing India’s total to 122. Notably, 22 of these unicorns have already exited, either through IPOs or acquisitions, showcasing the increasing depth and maturity of the Indian startup ecosystem. Bengaluru continues to dominate the unicorn scene with 53 companies, followed by Gurugram with 20 and Mumbai with 18.
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