India, Oct. 20 -- The year 2025 kicked off on a high note for India's startup ecosystem, with Netradyne becoming the first unicorn just days into the new year. But any hopes of a unicorn revival were quickly tempered, and the pace of new unicorn creation remained subdued, in line with the funding slump seen over the past two years.

India minted a record 45 unicorns in 2021, but the number fell sharply to 22 in 2022 and just two in 2023. While 2024 saw modest recovery with seven new unicorns, 2025 has so far added six- Netradyne, Porter, Drools, Fireflies.ai, Jumbotail and Dhan.

This slowdown isn't unexpected. With capital now flowing more selectively, founders and investors are shifting from a "growth-at-all-costs" mindset to a focus on...