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In September, venture funding for Indian startups showed an 8.3% decline compared to the same period last year, despite four deals totaling $100 million being closed. Nevertheless, compared to August, the volume of venture funding increased by 15.5%, indicating divergent trends in capital inflow into the startup ecosystem.

According to data from YourStory Research, the total venture funding volume for September of this year was $1.139 billion, which is less than the $1.242 billion recorded in the same month last year. It should be noted that in August 2026, funding reached $986 million.

Positive aspects were observed in September: it was the third time this year that venture funding exceeded the $1 billion mark. The previous two instances occurred in February ($1.40 billion) and July ($2 billion).

Four deals exceeding the $100 million threshold were closed in September: Pixxel ($100 million), DMI ($152 million), Simple Energy ($182 million), and SiMa ai ($150 million). Additionally, another significant deal with Ultrahuman worth $70 million was noted. These five deals collectively provided $654 million in funding, highlighting the role of large deals in maintaining funding momentum.

Between July and September 2026, the total venture funding attracted amounted to $2.92 billion, which is 2% higher than the $2.86 billion attracted during the corresponding period a year earlier.

The early-stage category showed the highest activity with $557 million attracted, followed by the growth stage category with $331 million. Typically, late-stage startups attract the largest volumes of funding, but in September, this category only attracted $85 million.

The fintech segment received the largest funding amount in September with $251 million, followed by electric vehicles with $222 million.

Among cities, Bengaluru ranked first with attracted capital of $666 million, followed by Delhi-NCR with $211 million and Mumbai with $149 million. This situation poses a serious challenge to the Indian startup ecosystem, as entrepreneurship is not sufficiently spread across other major cities in the country.

Over the first nine months of this year, the total funding for the Indian startup ecosystem reached $9.8 billion. It remains unclear whether the remaining three months of the year will help surpass the 2025 figure. Last year, the total attracted funding reached $12.1 billion.

Current trends suggest that 2026 may show a slight improvement over 2025 in terms of overall funding volume. However, this will not be easy, given that the last three months of the year are traditionally a period of slowed activity. Nevertheless, one positive aspect is the recent fundraising by several Indian AI startups, which favorably impacts the overall startup ecosystem.

According to the National Statistics Committee, annual inflation in Uzbekistan in September 2026 was 6.4%, which is lower than the 8.0% recorded in September 2025. These data were published on October 5.

During the month, consumer prices rose by 0.7%, compared to a rise of 0.6% in September 2025. Since the beginning of the year, prices have increased by 4.2%, whereas the growth from January to September 2025 was 5.1%.

Excluding fruits and vegetables, the monthly price increase was 0.7% compared to 0.5% in September 2025. Since the beginning of the year, prices have risen by 5.6%, compared to 6.7% a year earlier, and the annual increase reached 6.8% compared to 8.9% a year earlier.

Food products and non-alcoholic beverages contributed the most to the monthly indicator, increasing by 1.0%, accounting for 0.40 percentage points in the overall index. An additional 0.19 percentage points were added by prices for higher education and transport, while other categories contributed 0.14 percentage points.

Among staple foods, eggs showed the largest monthly growth, rising by 5.3% or 11.4% year-on-year. Bone-in beef increased by 1.7% monthly and 16.2% annually, while boneless beef rose by 1.1% and 17.9% respectively. Lamb prices increased by 1.3% monthly and 19.8% year-on-year. Price increases were also recorded for chicken portions (+1.2%), buckwheat (+1.1%), rice (+1.0%), and milk with butter (+0.8%). Meanwhile, sugar became cheaper by 0.9% during the month.

The Committee noted that seasonal factors influenced the price dynamics of fruits and vegetables. Citrus fruits became 12.0% cheaper during the month, grapes decreased by 5.7%, apples by 2.4%, and bananas by 1.7%. Simultaneously, tomato prices rose by 14.2% or 54.9% year-on-year, and cucumbers increased by 13.5%, carrots by 12.4%, bell peppers by 4.9%, eggplant by 4.7%, and onions by 2.6%.

The cost of educational services increased by 4.2% during the month. Since September, the average fee in state kindergartens has increased by 6.8%, due to an increase in the basic calculated cost. Private kindergartens raised prices by 1.7%, and private schools by 6.0%. The average increase in tuition fees at state universities since the new academic year was 6.3%. Private tutoring services became 1.9% more expensive, and foreign language courses by 1.8%.

Gasoline prices rose by an average of 1.2% monthly and 20.1% year-on-year. AI-92 gasoline increased by 0.7%, AI-95 by 4.2%, and AI-98 and AI-100 by 0.4%. The cost per liter of AI-92 ranged from 10,500 to 17,000 soms, AI-95 from 13,500 to 21,500 soms, and AI-98 and AI-100 from 16,500 to 28,000 soms. The price of propane increased by 4.2% monthly and 48.9% annually, reaching up to 10,000 soms per liter. Methane prices remained unchanged during the month, although they rose by 10.1% over the year.

Tickets for long-distance trains became 1.6% cheaper during the month, and air travel decreased by an average of 0.9%. According to the committee, this is due to the strengthening of the sum against the euro and Swiss franc, as well as tariff revisions by individual service providers. Courier services increased by 3.0%.

In the utility sector, tariffs for cold water supply and sewerage rose in Surkhandarya region, and housing maintenance fees increased in Navoi region. Across the country, the cost of cold water supply and sewerage increased by 2.1% monthly, and housing maintenance costs by 0.6%. Coal for household needs rose by 0.3%, and firewood by 0.8%.

By main food categories, food prices rose by 1.0% monthly and 6.3% year-on-year. Non-food items increased by 0.3% monthly and 5.8% annually. Services increased by 0.9% monthly and 7.0% year-on-year, contrasting with the annual growth of 14.9% in September 2025.

Year-on-year, insurance and financial services showed the largest growth, increasing by 43.8%. Housing and communal services, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels rose by 11.8%, while prices in restaurants and hotels grew by 7.5%, and transport costs by 7.2%.

Housing and communal and utility services contributed the most to the rise in prices since the beginning of the year, amounting to 1.17 percentage points, followed by food products (1.08 percentage points) and transport (0.58 percentage points). Together, these three categories accounted for 2.83 percentage points, or 67.9%, of the total increase.

The Committee did not record sharp deviations from national average indicators in the regions. The highest annual price growth was noted in Tashkent at 7.0%, as well as in the Andijan and Fergana regions at 6.7% each. The lowest annual growth was recorded in the Syrdarya region at 5.4%. Surkhandarya region showed the highest monthly growth at 0.99%.

According to the supplementary index, calculated using the geometric formula of Jevons and intended only for analytical purposes, prices rose by 0.8% in September and 3.1% since the beginning of the year. Since January 2026, the consumer price index has been calculated based on 517 goods and services, with the committee recording over two million price quotes monthly.