No $100 million round in October: Indian startup funding falls by almost half

October 2026 was the month the big cheques stopped. Indian startups raised about $678 million, according to the monthly report Entrackr published on November 2. That is 47.5 percent less than the $1.29 billion of September and 60.8 percent less than the $1.73 billion raised in October 2025. Not one startup closed a round of $100 million or more.

A second tracker tells the same story with slightly different numbers. Tracxn counted $693.8 million across 101 rounds in October, 50.5 percent lower than a year earlier, the Economic Times reported. Trackers count deals and dates in their own ways, so the monthly totals never match exactly. What matters is that both point the same way, and sharply down.

A month without a giant

Startup funding totals in India swing on a handful of very large rounds. When one company raises $200 million or $300 million, a weak month suddenly looks healthy. October had no such round. Entrackr found only two deals above $50 million: Tessolve Semiconductor with $75 million and Even Healthcare with $50 million. In Tracxn's list, Even Healthcare led, followed by Different at $48 million, Boldfit at $41.5 million, Baba Care at $40 million and GreenCell Mobility at $34.5 million.

Entrackr split the month into 20 growth and late stage deals worth $414.6 million and 79 early stage deals worth $263 million, plus nine deals where the amount was not disclosed. By round type, Series B led with $209.34 million across 10 deals, followed by Series A with $135.35 million across 17 deals. Seed rounds were the most numerous, 41 of them, but added up to only $80.41 million.

Tracxn's view of the same month leans the other way: it puts 61.9 percent of October's money in early stage deals, 19.4 percent in late stage deals and 18.7 percent in seed rounds. The difference comes down to where each tracker draws the line between early and growth stage.

The last week of the month, three ways

The weekly reports show the slowdown did not lift at the end of the month. YourStory counted $115 million across 29 deals in the last week of October, up from $96 million the week before, with healthtech startup Cent's $15 million as the biggest deal and AI startups Simplismart and Live2.ai at $14 million each. Inc42 put the same week at $130.2 million, down 29 percent from $184 million, even though the number of deals rose 88 percent to 32. Tracxn's weekly figure, reported by the Economic Times, was $111.1 million across 26 rounds.

The pattern is the same in all three: plenty of small deals, very few large ones. Investors are still writing cheques. They are simply writing smaller ones.

Where the money went

Bengaluru took the largest share again. Entrackr counted $420 million across 52 deals in the city, about 62 percent of all the capital raised in October. Delhi NCR followed with $110.26 million across 18 deals and Mumbai with $57.53 million across 11.

By sector, ecommerce led with $182.69 million across 27 deals, ahead of AI startups with $131.12 million across 22 deals and healthtech with $104.61 million across 13 deals, according to Entrackr. AI keeps showing up near the top of the weekly charts too: Inc42 counted $30 million across five AI deals in the last week of the month, second only to ecommerce.

The active investors were mostly early stage funds. Tracxn data cited by the Economic Times named Blume Ventures, AJVC and 3one4 Capital among the most active in October, with Blume backing companies including Lumio, Hunar.AI, Cent, Rotoris and QwikBuild.

The deeptech question

The slump lands in the middle of a loud debate about whether Indian venture capital funds back hard technology. Inc42 reported that deeptech funding rose 176 percent year on year in the third quarter of 2026, but the number of deals barely moved, because most of the money went to a few already proven companies, largely in Bengaluru. Founders quoted in that debate complain about long due diligence and demands for revenue before the technology is even validated.

Inc42 also pointed to signs of change, such as specialist deeptech funds and the government's Rs 1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund. October's data shows the gap that money is meant to fill: when the large growth rounds dry up, the companies that need the most patient capital feel it first.

What else happened in October

Not everything was quiet. Entrackr recorded five acquisitions, including Freshworks buying AI startup Robusta, cybersecurity firm Protectt.ai acquiring AIShield and Marico buying Satya Nutraceuticals for $110 million. Jio Platforms made its stock market debut, followed by the listings of Zetwerk and AceVector, which runs Snapdeal. Entrackr reported no layoffs during the month.

What to watch

Entrackr estimates that Indian startups have raised nearly $11 billion so far in 2026. If funding averages about $1 billion in each of November and December, the year could pass the $13 billion raised in 2023. If not, 2026 could end with the lowest annual total in three years. YourStory's newsletter expects the funding environment to stay largely unchanged for the rest of 2026, with hopes of a recovery moving to 2027.

For founders, the practical reading is simple. Money is available for small, early rounds and for companies that can show revenue. The mega round that rescues a weak month, and lets a company spend ahead of its numbers, is the thing that went missing in October.