Indian startups raised $678 million in October, a 47.5% month-on-month decline, as the absence of large funding rounds dragged overall investments. No startup secured a funding round of $100 million or more, while only Tessolve and Even Healthcare crossed the $50 million mark. Growth stage deals received a boost from rounds raised by Boldfit, DailyObjects, RapidCanvas and Nat Habit, while early stage funding saw moderate participation from Auxo AI, Cent, Mesa and Matiks.
The month saw no reported layoffs, while Jio Platforms made a high-profile stock market debut, followed by listings of Zetwerk and AceVector, the operator of Snapdeal. Merger and acquisition activity, however, remained limited to select sectors.
[Overview]
According to data compiled by Entrackr, Indian startups raised approximately $678 million in funding during October. This amount included 20 growth and late-stage deals totalling $414.6 million, along with 79 early-stage deals worth $263 million. Additionally, there were 9 undisclosed deals during the period.
Y-o-Y and M-o-M trend
October 2026 saw a sharp decline in startup funding compared to the same month last year. Total funding fell 60.8% to $677.8 million from $1.73 billion in October 2025. On a month-on-month basis, funding declined 47.5% from $1.29 billion in September. February was the strongest month for funding in 2026, with startups raising around $2 billion, followed by June, which also recorded around $2 billion. October’s decline came amid a lack of larger deals, with no startup raising $100 million or more during the month.
[Top 10 growth-stage deals]
Growth and late-stage startups saw activity across sectors in October, led by semiconductor solutions provider Tessolve Semiconductor, which raised $75 million, followed by healthtech startup Even Healthcare with $50 million. Sports and fitness brand Boldfit secured $42 million, while lifestyle brand DailyObjects and enterprise AI startup RapidCanvas raised $35 million and $29 million, respectively. Advanced materials manufacturer Simplify raised $25 million, followed by robotics startup Origin with $20 million. Beauty and wellness brand Nat Habit and AI startups Simplismart and Live2.ai raised $15 million, $14 million and $14 million, respectively.
[Top 10 early-stage deals]
Early-stage startups saw funding across AI, healthtech, edtech and gaming in October, led by enterprise AI startup AuxoAI, which raised $20.7 million, followed by healthtech startup Cent with $15 million. Mesa School of Business and Confido Health secured $12.5 million each, while gaming startup Spill Games raised $10.5 million. AI video platform Clueso, quantum computing startup Quanfluence and social gaming platform Matiks received $10 million each. Nutrition brand Ace Blend raised $9.91 million, while edtech startup byteXL secured $9 million to expand its technology training programmes.
[Mergers and acquisitions]
Indian startups recorded five acquisitions in October across SaaS, healthtech, cybersecurity and FMCG. Freshworks acquired AI startup Robusta, while healthtech startup Cent acquired Medsee and cybersecurity firm Protectt.ai acquired AIShield. In the FMCG sector, Marico acquired Satya Nutraceuticals for $110 million. Meanwhile, Hoola Health acquired UpTodd, marking continued consolidation in the healthtech sector.
[City and segment-wise deals]
Bengaluru led startup funding in October with $420 million across 52 deals, accounting for 61.97% of the total capital raised. Delhi-NCR followed with $110.26 million across 18 deals, while Mumbai startups raised $57.53 million across 11 deals. Hyderabad secured $41.22 million across five deals, followed by Bhubaneswar with $11.5 million from a single deal.
E-commerce startups led sector-wise funding with $182.69 million across 27 deals, followed by AI startups with $131.12 million across 22 deals. Healthtech companies raised $104.61 million across 13 deals, while semiconductor startups secured $75 million in a single deal. Manufacturers raised $36.67 million across four deals, rounding out the top five segments.
[Series-wise deals]
Series B startups led funding in October with $209.34 million across 10 deals, followed by Series A companies with $135.35 million across 17 deals. Seed-stage startups raised $80.41 million across 41 deals, while Series C companies secured $61.5 million across three deals. Pre-Series A startups raised $23.24 million across seven deals.
[Key hirings and departures]
October saw key leadership appointments across startups and investment firms, with Mayank Khanduja joining Bessemer Venture Partners as a partner and Manas Poddar taking charge as CBO at OTPless. Sanjeev Bikhchandani continued as MD and group CEO at Info Edge, while Kiran U joined Bellatrix Aerospace as CFO. Other notable appointments included Basant Dhawan as CMO at Shoonya by Finvasia, Medhavi Singh as India country head at Aleph and Kamaldeep Singh as CEO at Infost Energy. Meanwhile, Sanjeev Bikhchandani and Mithun Sacheti were among the key departures, from Info Edge and Nazara Technologies, respectively.
[Tends]
Zorit comeback: Zorit (formerly Bijnis) raised funding from investors including Sparoww Capital and Info Edge Capital, which had written off its entire investment in the startup in 2023.
Vama funding: Spiritual tech startup Vama raised funding from the Dainik Bhaskar family office, which could be among its first recorded startup investments.
Quick home services race: Snabbit recorded an NTV of Rs 72 crore in Q2 FY27, marginally ahead of Urban Company’s InstaHelp at Rs 71 crore. Snabbit reported a burn of Rs 142 crore against InstaHelp’s adjusted EBITDA loss of Rs 174 crore, although the figures may not be directly comparable.
Burma Burma follows Subway India with IPO filing: Hunger Pangs, the operator of Burma Burma, filed its DRHP for an IPO comprising a fresh issue of up to Rs 600 crore, with no OFS. The filing follows that of Subway India operator EverBrands India in September.
[Conclusion]
October’s funding slowdown reflects a more selective investment environment, with investors prioritising stronger business fundamentals and clearer paths to profitability. Indian startups have raised nearly $11 billion so far in 2026. If funding averages $1 billion in each of the remaining two months, the annual total could cross the $13 billion recorded in 2023. Otherwise, 2026 could end with the lowest annual funding in three years. The coming months will determine whether the slowdown is temporary or signals a prolonged period of cautious investment.
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