New Delhi, Feb. 1 -- Startups Inc. was left disappointed as the long-awaited tax relief on employee stock options and reverse flipping, and clarity on legacy angel tax cases and investments from China were largely unaddressed in the Union Budget 2026-27.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman made no material concessions for startups or their investors in her Budget speech on Sunday, pushing key policy relief further down the road, industry executives told Mint.

"I think startups were mentioned maybe twice in the entire scheme of things, and got no targeted benefits" said Siddarth Pai, founding partner and chief financial officer at 3one4 Capital, in a post-budget conversation with Mint. "Even traditional private equity and venture capital...