Indian start-ups raised $2.2 billion across 210 deals in the third quarter of 2026, up 5 per cent from the same quarter a year earlier, while the number of deals fell 13 per cent from 240 in the third quarter of 2025, according to Inc42’s funding report. The median ticket size was flat at $3 million. The headline of the Inc42 report says that funding crawled up as investors got picky.
The money moved to later rounds. Growth-stage funding, covering Series A and B rounds, led the quarter with $1.1 billion across 90 deals, up 38 per cent. Late-stage funding fell 10 per cent to $994 million across 27 deals, and early-stage funding fell 18 per cent to $164 million across 93 deals, according to Inc42. The three stage totals add to about $2.26 billion, slightly above the headline figure, which may reflect rounding or different definitions, and Inc42’s summary does not explain the difference.
The fall in early-stage funding of 18 per cent, with 93 deals, shows that the smallest start-ups received less money. The average early-stage deal was about $1.8 million, which is IndiaX24’s own division of $164 million by 93, and the average growth-stage deal was about $12 million. The averages hide large differences between deals, and the median ticket across all deals is $3 million.
Bengaluru dominated by city. The city’s start-ups raised $1.4 billion, 64 per cent of the total and up 157 per cent from a year earlier, according to Inc42. Delhi NCR was second with $301 million and Mumbai third with $223 million. Together the three cities raised about $1.92 billion, or about 87 per cent of the total, a sum and a share that IndiaX24 has calculated.
Exits increased. Mergers and acquisitions rose 69 per cent to 22 deals, and six new-age technology companies went public during the quarter, according to Inc42. IndiaX24 has reported on the IPO market in separate articles, including the Jio Platforms issue of Rs 30,213 crore that is due to open on 21 October.
Two start-ups became unicorns in the quarter, Emergent and Astrotalk, and four rounds were larger than $100 million, according to the report. IndiaX24 covers the large rounds in a separate article. Artificial intelligence was the most-funded sector, and IndiaX24 covers its funding in a separate article.
The headline growth of 5 per cent is small compared with the 265 per cent growth in AI funding in the same quarter. Without AI’s $438 million, the other sectors raised about $1.76 billion, which is IndiaX24’s subtraction. A year earlier AI raised about $120 million, which is IndiaX24’s estimate from the growth rate, so the rest of the ecosystem raised roughly $2.0 billion then and fell by about 12 per cent. That estimate depends on rounded figures and is approximate.
Investors are being selective, according to the Inc42 headline, and the data support that: fewer deals, fewer early-stage rounds and more money in larger rounds at the growth stage. The report does not give the numbers of investors who took part.
IndiaX24 will report the funding data for the full year when it is published.
Image: The Bengaluru skyline, the city that took 64% of start-up funding (file photo). Photo by Kushagra140, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.