India Q1 funding mix
Indian startups raised $2.3 billion in Q1 2026—down 26% year‑on‑year—but seed‑stage funding jumped 58% versus Q1 2025, showing early‑stage resilience amid a broader slowdown (inc42.com). The split suggests VCs are allocating smaller, more numerous seed cheques while growth rounds retrench (inc42.com).
Inc42’s Q1 2026 report notes there were zero $100 million-plus rounds in the quarter — the first quarter without a megadeal since 2022. (inc42.com) The same Inc42 dataset shows early‑stage funding rose 58% year‑on‑year while growth‑stage rounds were the single largest contributor at about $1.1 billion, up roughly 10% versus Q1 2025. (inc42.com) Inc42 reports a median ticket size of $3.3 million for Q1 2026, a metric that aligns with its finding that investors are writing smaller but more numerous seed cheques. (inc42.com) Ecommerce led sector funding in the quarter, raising approximately $536 million according to Inc42’s sector breakdown. (inc42.com) Inc42’s investor‑sentiment survey found 70% of investors reporting portfolio disruption from the West Asia crisis, 74% preferring Indian limited partners, and fewer than 10% willing to pay premium valuations for AI plays. (inc42.com) Market trackers diverge on totals for the quarter: Tracxn reported roughly $3.31 billion raised in Q1 2026, a material gap from Inc42’s $2.3 billion figure, with each provider positioning itself as a different market‑intelligence aggregator. (startupnewswire.in (tracxn.com))
