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Tech startups co-led by women secured only $1 billion in funding in 2024, a 25 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) decline, according to a report released by the market intelligence platform Tracxn ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8.
The report titled ‘Women-led Startups in India Report 2025’ highlights key trends in funding, sectoral growth, unicorn journeys, and global positioning.
India is home to over 7,000 active women-led startups, accounting for 7.5 per cent of all active startups in the country. In the tech space, women-led startups have collectively raised $26.4 billion to date, with 2021 being the highest funded year at $6.3 billion.
On a global scale, 2022 saw the highest funding contribution from Indian startups at 15.18 per cent. That year, women-led startups in India raised $5 billion compared with $32.8 billion globally. In 2024, India ranked third globally in terms of funding raised by startups co-led by women, after the US and the UK, accounting for 3.96 per cent of funding raised by women-led startups across the globe.
The retail sector takes a strong lead based on investments raised by women-led startups, securing $7.8 billion in all-time funding, followed by ed-tech ($5.4 billion) and enterprise applications ($5 billion).
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Bengaluru leads in the number of women-led startups and total funding raised to date, followed by Mumbai and Delhi NCR. India's women-led unicorn journey has experienced highs and lows, marked by a surge in 2021 with 8 new unicorns and steady growth in 2019 (3), 2020 (4), and 2022 (5). However, 2017, 2023, and 2024 saw no new unicorns, indicating fluctuating momentum.
The highest number of acquisitions of women-led startups was recorded at 45 in 2021. This number declined by 20 per cent to 36 in 2022, and further decreased by 30.5 per cent to 25 in 2023. In 2024, the number of acquisitions fell to 16.
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