VC funding in October reaches $1.6B—the highest monthly level so far this year

October was a blockbuster month for the Indian startup ecosystem as venture capital (VC) funding on a monthly basis reached the highest level for the year till now with a consistent inflow of large value deals.

The total VC funding in October touched $1.6 billion across 99 deals, a 76% growth compared to the similar period a year ago, according to YourStory Research. Compared to September 2025, the rise was 36%.

This VC fund raise for October beats the May mark of $1.4 billion, which has now become the second highest for the year till now. Most interestingly, in the five months of the year—March, May, August, September and October—the total VC funding has crossed the psychologically important mark of $1 billion.

Also for three months in a row, VC funding crossed $1 billion in funding on a monthly basis.

The sharp increase in VC funding for October was primarily driven by large value deals. Each week of the month saw at least one transaction above the $100-million range. These were: Dhan ($120 million), Zepto ($450 million), Uniphore ($260 million) and Snapmint ($125 million).

October could also be seen as a benchmark of sorts, as the VC funding came from just 99 deals. These developments show that it is only the large value deals that provided the boost to the overall funding.

The momentum in October paves the way for the year to close on a strong note. In 2024, the total VC funding into Indian startups stood at $13.6 billion, and if this momentum continues, it is likely that 2025 will match this level.

These developments created an impact on stage-wise funding. The late-stage funding category raised $751 million from just five deals. This has been the trend for the ecosystem for quite some time now where early-stage funding has a high volume of transactions but the value of the deals remains low.

Now on to the segments that raised the highest amount of VC funding for the month. The top place was occupied by quick commerce platform Zepto, primarily due to its $450-million fund, followed by fintech and artificial intelligence.

The fintech segment has by and large always occupied the number one position. However, the emergence of AI has been an interesting development as the startups from this segment have generally been lower down the order in terms of funding raise. The sector would hope for the momentum to sustain, as globally it is the AI startups that receive the maximum interest.

Lastly, among the cities that raised the highest amount of funding, Mumbai topped the list at $958 million followed by Chennai and Delhi-NCR. Bengaluru has been pushed to the fifth spot below Pune. This is surprising as Bengaluru has always remained consistently among the top three cities.

The VC funding in October sets the stage for a strong finish in the remaining two months of the year.