India Deeptech Funding Surges to $1.6B Amid Deal Crunch
Overview
India's deeptech sector saw funding climb to $1.6 billion in 2025, a notable increase from prior years. However, the number of deals significantly decreased. This reflects a market trend favoring larger cheque sizes and later-stage investments in select companies within AI, clean transport, and defense. While early-stage capital rose, seed funding saw a dip, signaling investor caution at the entry level.
Funding Surge Amid Deal Decline
India's deeptech sector secured $1.6 billion in funding in 2025, a significant rise from $1.2 billion in 2024 and $1.1 billion in 2023. This capital inflow occurred even as investor risk appetite tightened, leading to a sharp drop in the number of funding rounds. Deal volume fell to 274, compared to 393 in 2024 and 350 in 2023, marking the lowest deal count in five years.
Concentration at the Top
The trend shows a pronounced concentration of capital. The five largest deeptech rounds accounted for a substantial portion of the total funds raised. Notable recipients included the logistics-focused clean transport platform GreenLine and conversational AI firm Uniphore, which together raised over $500 million. Other significant participants were defense and aerospace startup Raphe, legal technology company Spotdraft, and spacetech firm Digantara.
Sectoral Focus
The chosen sectors for major investments—clean transport, artificial intelligence, defense, enterprise software, and spacetech—highlight how funding clustered around a select group of scaled companies. This contrasts with a broad distribution across early-stage experimental ventures.
Stage-Specific Trends
Stage-wise data reveals a clear recalibration of investment risk. Early-stage funding surged to $971.9 million in 2025, reaching the highest level recorded by Tracxn. Late-stage funding also recovered to $345.5 million after a weaker performance in 2023. However, seed-stage funding experienced a decline, falling to $268.8 million from $302 million in 2024, indicating tighter scrutiny at the initial investment phase.
