Startups In India

Fewer IIT, IIM alumni turn entrepreneurs despite rise in startup formation

According to a new report, 79 IIT and 20 IIM alumni founded tech startups in January-August 2026, against 307 and 71, respectively, in the whole of 2025

Artificial intelligence's next big bottleneck in India is a very small chip

Funding is flowing, but the country's AI builders are struggling to secure the chips, memory, and power needed to train and run models

India's VC funding for startups stays flat at $10.9 billion in 2026 so far

Venture capital funding for Indian startups reached $10.9 billion across 1,253 rounds in 2026 so far, with investors concentrating funds in fewer companies and deeptech ventures.

India's family offices bet on homegrown AI firms to catch up with US, China

Azim Premji's family office, QED Innovation Labs and Ranjan Pai's family office are backing homegrown AI firms, even as India's AI investment of over $15 bn between 2013 and 2025 trails US and China

Space startups secure record $20.8 bn funding as infrastructure bets surge

The report, released on Wednesday, also showed a record 216 deals were completed during the quarter, up from 140 in the second quarter

IIT Madras, Unicorn India mark ₹450 cr first close of ₹1,000 cr fund

IITM Unicorn Frontier Fund I has deployed nearly Rs 55 crore in four deep-tech startups and is targeting a final close by December 2026

Conversational AI firm Gupshup launches agentic AI solution for real estate

The solution combines agentic AI with property, inventory and CRM systems to support discovery, lead qualification, sales and post-sales interactions through WhatsApp and voice

Kepler Aerospace raises $8 mn seed round led by Blue Ashva Capital

The seed round will fund deployment of the company's first six swarming ISR satellites and support expansion of its mission operations and avionics-as-a-service businesses

TILT Capital launches ₹250 crore fund to back next-generation startups

The/Nudge Foundation's investment platform will provide ₹2 crore to ₹16 crore in patient capital to seed-to-Series A ventures serving India's Next Billion across livelihoods and climate resilience

Homegrown direct-to-consumer companies raise $6 billion in five years

India's homegrown D2C startups raised nearly $6 billion across 2,000 equity funding rounds between 2021 and 2026 YTD, but funding has slowed sharply this year

AI-led startups face takeoff hiccups as overreliance poses challenges

AI is helping Indian founders build prototypes faster, but scaling these startups is proving harder as technology costs, bugs and weak product understanding emerge

Aerospace startup Airbound raises $37 mn to expand autonomous aircraft biz

The Bengaluru aerospace startup will use the Series A capital to scale engineering and manufacturing, while its Andhra Pradesh network is planned to handle up to 10,000 daily flights

IDFC First Bank, IIMCIP launch ₹2 crore startup incubation initiative

IDFC First Bank has partnered with the IIM Calcutta Innovation Park (IIMCIP) to launch a pan-India programme aimed at nurturing enterprises working on sustainable business solutions, officials said on Monday. The 'IGNITE' programme will provide total financial and operational support of Rs 2 crore, including a direct startup grant corpus of Rs 1.36 crore, they said. It aims to help early-stage ventures strengthen their business models, expand market reach, and deliver measurable environmental and social outcomes, according to an official statement. Under the programme, 16 startups from across the country will be selected through a competitive evaluation process, it said. The focus areas include green manufacturing, waste recycling and upcycling, cleantech, renewable energy, water management, environmental technologies, and the sustainable use of indigenous resources. The selected startups will undergo a structured incubation journey comprising business diagnostics, expert mentorin

PM Narendra Modi meets founders, CEOs of 20 homegrown space-tech startups

The Prime Minister said private participation had strengthened India's space ambitions and urged startups to explore applications in agriculture, environment and education

Over 85% of India's deeptech funding raised in past six years: IVCA

More than 85 per cent of India's $11.4 billion deeptech funding since 2015 was raised in the past six years, as the sector moved from early-stage proof points to commercial validation

In an age of social media, founder-led brands are the new business model

Interestingly, founder-led brands follow a very different marketing formula

Bengaluru startup bets on cancer-sniffing dogs and AI for early detection

Dognosis is repurposing the canine sense of smell, traditionally used to detect drugs or explosives, for low-cost health screening and aiming to make early detection accessible to far more people

Coffee equipment company Kaapi Machines raises ₹50 cr from Sedna HoReCa

The coffee equipment and services provider plans to use the funds to expand its product portfolio, strengthen manufacturing capabilities and improve its technology stack

CARPL.ai raises $10 million from IFC to expand radiology AI platform

World Bank Group's private-sector arm leads Series A round as the startup expands its AI marketplace for hospitals and diagnostic centers across global markets

Funding for operator-led startups nearly doubles in two years to 11%

Funding for startups founded by experienced business operators rose nearly 12 times between 2023 and 2025, while seed-stage investments increased 17.5 times