Overall tech startup funding rose 23 per cent to $9.1 billion during the year, even as investors grew more selective and milestone focused. The report characterised the shift as a transition from “volume-driven expansion” to “execution-led maturity,” with capital increasingly directed at validated, commercialisation-ready ventures.
India is now home to over 4,200 deeptech startups, including more than 550 founded in 2025. AI dominates the segment, accounting for 84 per cent of deeptech startups and 91 per cent of deeptech funding. Its influence spans enterprise software, cybersecurity, defence and industrial systems.Rajesh Nambiar, president of Nasscom, said the ecosystem has entered “a more disciplined phase of growth,” with AI emerging as core infrastructure for the next wave of innovation. “This signals growing global confidence in India’s ability to build, deploy, and commercialize AI at scale across sectors ranging from enterprise software and cybersecurity to defense and industrial systems,” he said. Despite the rebound, funding remained concentrated in early stages. Nearly 74 per cent of total deals in 2025 were at seed and early stages. However, about 85 per cent of seed-stage ventures failed to progress to Series A within five years, pointing to a persistent gap between proof-of-concept and scalable revenue.
Pari Natarajan, CEO of Zinnov, said the challenge has shifted from startup creation to conversion.Source link
