Startup Spotlights

One97 Communications, the parent entity behind the digital payments giant Paytm, reported a stellar Q1 FY27 performance, marking its fifth consecutive quarter of profitability and posting its highest-ever quarterly EBITDA . However, the stock witnessed a decline as the board decided against proceeding with a proposed bonus share issue . The market’s reaction illustrates the delicate balance between operational excellence and shareholder expectations in India’s competitive fintech ecosystem.

Despite global economic uncertainties and a more cautious investor environment, India’s startup ecosystem has demonstrated remarkable resilience in July 2026. The week of July 10–16 saw Indian startups raise an impressive $328.5 million across 16 funding rounds, marking a 48% jump from the previous week and a staggering 332% year-on-year increase . This surge underscores the growing investor confidence in India’s innovation economy, even as the market undergoes a fundamental shift toward more selective, fundamentals-driven investing.

On July 18, 2026, India’s private space industry reached a defining milestone. The Vikram-1 rocket, developed by Hyderabad-based startup Skyroot Aerospace, successfully lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, making India only the third country in the world—after the United States and China—to achieve orbital launch capability through a private company . Dubbed “Mission Aagaman” (meaning “arrival”), the launch represents far more than a technological achievement; it signals India’s confident entry into the global commercial launch market .

India’s startup ecosystem added five new unicorns in the first half of 2026, spanning artificial intelligence, fintech, spacetech, and proptech. This surge came even as the number of funding rounds declined sharply, with investors concentrating capital on fewer, larger deals . The five companies joining the billion-dollar club were Neysa, Sarvam AI, Emergent, KreditBee, and Skyroot Aerospace .

The Indian startup story has long been one of breakneck growth—new companies launching every day, record funding rounds, and a new unicorn almost every week. But 2026 is telling a different story. Data from Tracxn reveals that only 314 tech startups were founded in the first half of 2026, compared with 3,222 in all of 2025 . This dramatic slowdown in new company formation is not a sign of a dying ecosystem. It is evidence of a structural shift toward a more disciplined, selective phase—where capital flows to the strongest ventures, and founders are thinking twice before entering the arena.

The national capital has thrown its hat into the ring with a significant policy intervention aimed at transforming its educational landscape into a launchpad for entrepreneurship. On July 16, 2026, the Delhi Cabinet approved the Delhi Start-up and Incubation Policy, earmarking over ₹400 crore for a five-year mission to strengthen the city’s innovation ecosystem . Chief Minister Rekha Gupta articulated the ambition succinctly: “The initiative is not just about helping people launch start-ups, but about transforming Delhi’s youth from job seekers into job creators” .

Gene editing has long been constrained by a fundamental limitation: scientists have been working with nature’s tools. Even CRISPR-Cas9, the revolutionary breakthrough that earned a Nobel Prize, relies on enzymes that evolved millions of years ago. Bengaluru-based deep-tech startup Mandrake Bio is challenging this status quo by using generative AI to design gene-editing enzymes from scratch, and it has just raised ₹16 crore to prove its approach works .

India’s private space sector is poised to achieve a landmark moment as Skyroot Aerospace prepares to launch the Vikram-1 orbital rocket on July 18, 2026, at 11:30 AM from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota . This mission, named ‘Mission Aagaman’ (meaning “the arrival”), will mark India’s first orbital launch attempt by a privately developed rocket .