India’s Startup Ecosystem Retains Global No. 3 Spot Despite 23% Funding Drops in 2025

India’s startup ecosystem continues to show resilience even as overall venture funding slowed in 2025. According to a new report by Tracxn, Indian startups raised $7.7 billion during the first nine months

of the year—a 23% decline from $10.1 billion in the same period last year, and 6% lower than the $8.3 billion raised in 2023.Despite the dip, India held its position as the third-largest startup hub worldwide, behind the United States and the United Kingdom, while staying ahead of Germany and France.Stage-Wise Breakdown

• Seed-stage: $727 million, down 39% year-on-year.
• Early-stage: $2.7 billion, a 10% drop.
• Late-stage: $4.3 billion, down 27% from $5.9 billion last year.

While deal volumes shrank, the median round size doubled to $1.5 million, up from $683,000 in 2024, showing that investors are writing bigger cheques for fewer companies.Mega Deals and Key SectorsThe first nine months of 2025 saw 10 mega funding rounds of $100 million or more, including:

• Erisha E Mobility – $1 billion (Series D)
• GreenLine – $275 million (Series A)
• Infra.Market – $222 million (Series F)

Other notable rounds included Access Healthcare and Groww.Top-funded sectors were:

• Enterprise Applications – $2.3 billion
• Retail Tech – $2.0 billion
• Transportation & Logistics Tech – $1.79 billion

Exits and IPOs Show MaturityIndia’s ecosystem also saw growth in exits, with 110 deals recorded in 9M 2025, up 15% from 96 last year.

• Largest exit: Resulticks’ $2.0 billion acquisition by Diginex
• Other big exits: Magma General Insurance’s $516 million buyout by DS Group, and Patanjali Ayurved

The IPO market thrived with 26 companies going public or pursuing secondary offerings, including Urban, DevX, BlueStone, and iCodex. Energy Tech gained momentum with five IPOs.Unicorn TrackerIndia added four new unicorns in 2025, bringing the total to 122. Out of these, 22 have already exited via IPOs or acquisitions.

• Bengaluru remains the hub with 53 unicorns
• Gurugram follows with 20, and Mumbai with 18Together, Bengaluru (31%) and Delhi (18%) accounted for nearly half of the year’s total funding.

Active Investors

• Seed-stage leaders: Inflection Point Ventures, Venture Catalysts, Antler
• Early-stage: Peak XV Partners, Vertex Ventures, Accel
• Late-stage: Premji Invest, Sofina, SoftBank Vision Fund
• Top all-time investors: LetsVenture, AngelList, Accel

“India climbing to the third rank globally reflects the resilience and adaptability of our startup ecosystem. What we are witnessing is a clear shift toward maturity, with rising acquisitions, steady IPO activity, and continued unicorn creation providing balanced exit pathways,” said Neha Singh, Co-Founder of Tracxn.