In 2025, India’s startup ecosystem is expected to see major developments, including a 20–30% rise in employment across multiple sectors.
Startup funding in India grew by 14% in 2024, reaching $10.9 billion, after a difficult year in 2023.
India’s Startup Ecosystem Expected To See Major Developments in 2025
This increase in funding has boosted hiring across sectors like fintech, edtech, healthtech, SaaS, and artificial intelligence.
With renewed confidence from venture capitalists, many startups are shifting from survival to growth-focused strategies.
As funding stabilizes, startups are investing in talent, scaling operations, and enhancing product development.
A major trend in 2025 is the expansion of hiring to Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities due to high costs in metros such as Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR, and Mumbai.
Cities like Jaipur, Indore, Kochi, and Coimbatore are being targeted to reduce costs and access new talent pools.
The rise of remote and hybrid work models has allowed startups to build diverse, distributed teams.
Layoffs in Indian Startups Dropped By 46% in 2024
Layoffs in Indian startups dropped by 46% in 2024, signaling increased stability in the sector.
In 2024, there were 8,895 layoffs, compared to 16,398 in 2023, according to data from Layoffs.fyi.
Startups that had previously frozen hiring are now actively recruiting for roles in engineering, marketing, product, and operations.
Government support is also playing a role, with a proposed ₹10,000 crore Fund of Funds aimed at fueling startup growth.
The 2025 hiring surge reflects greater investor confidence, a more mature market, and a stronger focus on technology innovation and skills development.
Overall, 2025 is poised to be a milestone year for startup hiring in India, with continued funding and the emergence of new companies.
Just seven Indian startups have let go of 1,602 workers in 2025, according to layoffs.fyi.
Compared to the same period in 2024, when 20 companies laid off 3,355 employees, this is a significant decrease.
After the US and the UK, India is currently the third-largest source of startup funding worldwide.
India’s trend of fewer layoffs in 2025 is consistent with a larger global trend in the technology sector.
Just over 51,000 workers have been let go by 112 tech companies worldwide so far in 2025.
This is less than the nearly 79,700 layoffs that were reported worldwide during the same time frame in 2024.
