[Weekly funding roundup Jan 3-9] Startup investments start on a subdued word

The 12 months 2026 has begun on a subdued word for the Indian startup ecosystem, as startups raised properly under $100 million within the week, reflecting the challenges they proceed to face whereas elevating enterprise capital.

The entire funding for the week was simply $77 million throughout 24 offers. In distinction, the earlier week noticed startups elevating a complete quantity of $108 million. The final 4 weeks have witnessed a gentle decline in funding for Indian startups.

This drop isn’t a surprise, given that there’s normally a sluggish begin to funding in January, which was additionally seen in 2025.

Nonetheless, the worrying component has been the general funding for 2025, which noticed an 11% drop in comparison with 2024. Startups raised a complete of $12.1 billion in contrast with $13.6 billion in 2024—highlighting that the startup ecosystem is but to totally emerge from the grips of a protracted funding winter.

The opposite problem has been that whereas AI startups globally are receiving main funding, that has not been the case in India. It’s anticipated that issues would change for the higher because the 12 months goes by, and the momentum would decide up.

Of the 24 offers from this week, many of the funding went into pre-Sequence A rounds. This class typically sees very small quantities of funding. Except giant offers begin to come into play, startup funding is unlikely to get a lift.

Key transactions

Even Healthcare raised $20 million from Lachy Groom, Alpha Wave and Sharrp Ventures.

Varthana Finance raised $6 million mortgage from WaterEquity.

Tech startup Nitro Commerce raised $5 million from Cornerstone Ventures, India Accelerator & Finvolve, Equentis Wealth Advisory Providers, Grand Anicut Angel Fund, Razorpay Ventures and others.

Tech startup Aivar raised $4.6 million from Sorin Investments and Bessemer Enterprise Companions.