Rawbare secures new capital from Teamology to expand brand, retail and overseas presence

Indian startups raised $5.2 Bn in the first half of 2026, a 9% dip from from the same period last year, while number of deals went up 7% YoY to 501

Seed and growth stage investments continued to be popular with investors, even as late stage funding declined 29% YoY to $2.2 Bn

Venture debt firm Stride Ventures continues to remain the most active startup investors, with the firm backing 61 startups during this period, including Giva and Magicpin

Even as overall funding trends remained rather muted, investor strategies continued to evolve, with many moving focus to ventures building frontier technologies like AI, robotics and deeptech. For instance, total investment in AI startups soared over 4X YoY to $676 Mn across 57 deal;s.

Meanwhile, advanced hardware and technology saw funding rise 17% to $365 Mn on the back of a record 66 deals.

At the same time, institutional capital continued to gravitate towards seed and growth stage rounds, which accounted for a cumulative $478 Mn raised during the year and growth stage funding increased 15% YoY to $2.3 Bn. In contrast, late stage funding declined 29% YoY to $2.2 Bn, while the median ticket size fell 68% YoY to $10 Mn.

Overall median ticket size however remained stable at $3 Mn. While mega rounds of $100 Mn and higher fell to five during the period under review, the stable median cheque sizes highlighted a more diversified funding environment.

Unique investor participation also remained stable in H1 2026, with 1,108 investors participating in the ecosystem during this time.

Despite the dip in overall funding, investor interest in the ecosystem continues to be strong. Around 64% of investors surveyed in the report said they plan to increase their venture capital allocation in the second half of 2026.

While the ecosystem waits to see which investors step up in the second half of 2026 and how they shape the ecosystem through their deals, let’s take a look at which ones topped the charts in the first half in terms of the total number of startup deals.

Note: This ranking is based on data consolidated from Indian Tech Startup Funding Report, H1 2026, and deals recorded in the Inc42 database.

Venture debt firm Stride Ventures continues to remain the most active startup investors, a title it has held since 2025. In H1, the firm backed 61 startups including the likes of jewellery retailer Giva, foodtech venture Magicpin, home interiors startup AllHome and EV maker River Mobility.

In February, Stride raised capital from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) after it entered the Saudi Arabian market in September via a $200 Mn debt fund.

It currently holds assets under seven debt funds across India, the GCC, the UK and Europe. Stride Ventures is also planning to deploy $1 Bn in global credit markets over the next few years.

It boasts of 20 unicorns in its portfolio, including Zepto and Ather Energy, along with soonicorns like SUGAR cosmetics and Lohum.