India, May 4 -- A lot happened in India's startup ecosystem in April. As tensions in West Asia dragged on, funding activity at home slowed sharply. In the penultimate week of the month, startups raised just $39 Mn - the lowest weekly total so far since January 2025.

The pressure showed elsewhere, too. Ecommerce-focused AI startup NeuroPixel.AI and insurtech startup Covrzy shut down due to a cash crunch. Insurtech unicorn Acko and SaaS startup SuperOps also laid off a large number of employees.

Meanwhile, policy moves by the Centre and the RBI across gaming and fintech kept startups on edge. But, it wasn't all gloom. Inc42's Q1 2026 data shows that while funding declined YoY, investors are still deploying capital - just in smaller, more ...