Tracxn Co-Founder on India’s Startup Paradox: More Money, Fewer Bets
6/30/202615 min
India’s startup ecosystem is sending mixed signals. Funding deals are at a decade low, yet tech IPOs are breaking records. Investors are writing bigger cheques but backing fewer companies, while deep tech, AI and space tech are quietly reshaping the next phase of innovation. Host Anirban Chowdhury talks to Tracxn co-founder Neha Singh about what the data really reveals: why average deal sizes have doubled, whether the era of growth-at-all-costs is over, why India’s AI funding still lags global peers despite its talent pool, and what founders, investors and policymakers should watch as the country’s startup ecosystem enters a more disciplined phase.
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First 90 secondsAnirban Chaudhuri· Host0:00
[upbeat music] India's startup ecosystem is in an unusual moment. [upbeat music] Deal volumes are at a 10-year low, yet 2025 saw a record 51 tech IPOs. Average deal sizes have doubled, and deep tech funding has grown to $1.49 billion. [upbeat music] In today's episode, Neha Singh, co-founder of private market intelligence firm, Tracxn, talks to me. Tracxn tracks 8 million-plus companies across 50 countries and works with 2,000-plus organizations. Neha joins me to make sense of what the numbers around startups are really saying. It's Tuesday, the 30th of June. I'm Anirban Chaudhuri. This is The Morning Brief. [upbeat music] Hi, Neha. Very warm welcome to The Morning Brief.
Neha Singh· Guest1:08
Thanks a lot, Anirban. Great to be here.
Anirban Chaudhuri· Host1:10
Absolutely. Okay. Now, we all use Tracxn, so it's so nice to be talking to the person who's behind Tracxn. All of us corporate financial journalists use it almost on a daily basis for all our data-driven stories. A lot of data analysts use it, use it very frequently, I'm sure, as do corporates. Tell me