Indian startup funding witnessed a sharp slowdown in October, but consumer-focused brands showed resilience. D2C startups raised around $200 million during the month, which was nearly 30% of the total $678 million raised by Indian startups.
In terms of deal volume, D2C startups accounted for 36 of the 108 deals recorded in October, which was 33.33% of the total. Their share was higher than the 20.36% recorded in H1 2026, when they secured 125 of the 614 deals, and 21.57% in Q3 2026, with 55 deals out of 255. This points to a growing share of consumer focused brands in India's startup funding activity.
In terms of deal value, D2C startups raised a little over $1 billion during the first nine months of 2026, which accounted for around 10% of the more than $10 billion raised by Indian startups during the period.
The strong showing by consumer brands comes at an important time as companies prepare for the festive and wedding seasons, when consumer spending typically picks up. For these startups, fresh capital could help them build inventory, expand distribution, strengthen supply chains and increase marketing spend to capture a larger share of the market.
According to Entrackr's funding data, consumer focused startups attracted investments across categories such as fashion, beauty, food, wellness, lifestyle and home products.
Food and beverages emerged as the largest category with eight deals , followed by fashion and lifestyle and health and wellness, which attracted seven deals each. Home and living brands secured six deals, while beauty and personal care companies accounted for four deals.
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