Funding for women co-founded tech startups in India falls 12% to $1 bn in 2025: Tracxn

Funding raised by women co-founded technology startups in India declined 12% year-on-year to $1 billion in 2025, compared with $1.1 billion in 2024, according to the “Women Co-Founders in India Tech – Annual Funding Report 2025” released by Tracxn. 

The report highlights trends in funding activity, sector performance, deal flow, and investor participation across India’s women co-founded technology ecosystem, tracking movements in equity funding, exits, acquisitions and overall capital deployment during the year. 

Deal activity also saw a sharp contraction. The number of funding rounds fell 29%, dropping from 574 rounds in 2024 to 405 in 2025, indicating a slowdown in overall transaction volumes within the ecosystem. 

Seed and late-stage funding decline 

Seed-stage funding declined significantly, falling from $342 million across 456 rounds in 2024 to $261 million across 311 rounds in 2025, a 24% year-on-year drop. The segment has continued to moderate after peaking at $478 million in 2022, the report noted. 

In contrast, early-stage funding registered growth, rising 12% year-on-year to $533 million in 2025 from $478 million in 2024, even as the number of deals declined from 93 to 79 rounds. 

Late-stage investments, however, weakened sharply. Funding at this stage dropped 35% to $213 million across 15 rounds in 2025, compared with $326 million across 25 rounds in 2024. 

IPO activity slows 

Public market exits also moderated during the year. India recorded two IPOs in 2025, down from three in 2024, reflecting a 33% decline in public listings. 

The listings were led by companies including Lenskart and Zappfresh, which together accounted for the year’s IPO activity in the women co-founded startup ecosystem. 

Acquisition activity jumps 

Despite the moderation in funding, exit activity through acquisitions surged sharply. Women co-founded startups in India recorded 33 acquisitions in 2025, compared with 12 in 2024. 

Among the disclosed deals, Resulticks recorded the largest transaction with a $2 billion acquisition, followed by Ecom Express at $165 million and PeopleStrong at $130 million. Together, these transactions brought the combined disclosed deal value to about $2.3 billion. 

Bengaluru emerges as the top-funded startup hub

City-wise, Bengaluru emerged as the top-funded startup hub, raising $384 million, which accounted for 38% of the total funding secured by women co-founded tech startups in 2025. Mumbai ranked second, attracting $112 million, representing 11% of the overall capital raised during the year. 

Investor participation varied across funding stages. At the seed stage, investors such as Venture Catalysts, Inflection Point Ventures and Antler emerged as the most active. 

Early-stage funding activity was led by Elevation Capital, Vertex Ventures and Peak XV Partners, while late-stage investments saw participation from investors including Creaegis, which was the most active in that category.