India’s startup sector added nearly 14,000 jobs over the past year, with hiring shifting towards AI, data, and mid-level roles, according to a new report by foundit.
The foundit Insights Tracker report said startup jobs increased from 116,080 in April 2025 to 130,010 in April 2026, marking a 12 per cent year-on-year growth.
The report also noted that India’s startup base rose to nearly 172,000 firms in 2026 from 161,150 a year earlier.
Technology-related sectors remained the largest source of hiring. IT services accounted for 34 per cent of startup jobs in 2026, up from 32 per cent in 2025. Emerging technology, AI, and SaaS roles contributed around 14 per cent of total startup hiring.
The report said AI and data-related positions now make up nearly one-third of technology hiring within startups. Their share increased from 24 per cent in 2025 to 32 per cent in 2026.
Tarun Sinha, CEO of foundit, said startup hiring is moving towards a more skill-focused model.
“Startups are no longer hiring purely for scale; they are hiring for capability, productivity, and business impact,” he said.
The report showed that hiring growth has slowed compared to 2025, when startup jobs had grown by 32 per cent. However, companies are now focusing more on specialised roles in AI, product development, healthcare, fintech, consulting, and engineering.
TIER-2 CITIES GAIN SHARE IN STARTUP HIRING
The report also pointed to a rise in hiring outside major metro cities.
Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities accounted for 36 per cent of startup jobs in 2026, compared to 31 per cent in 2025 and 9 per cent in 2024.
Cities such as Jaipur, Indore, Kochi, and Coimbatore are seeing increased startup activity. Jaipur and Indore each contributed around 3 per cent of startup jobs, while Kochi and Coimbatore accounted for around 2 per cent each.
The report linked this shift to lower operating costs, distributed work models, and growing talent availability outside traditional startup hubs.
BENGALURU REMAINS TOP STARTUP HUB
Bengaluru continued to lead startup hiring with a 20 per cent share, though its contribution declined from 21 per cent last year and 33 per cent in 2023.
Hyderabad recorded growth in startup hiring, with its share rising to 10 per cent in 2026 from 8 per cent in 2025.
Delhi NCR remained stable at 14 per cent, while Mumbai accounted for 10 per cent of startup jobs.
MID-LEVEL PROFESSIONALS IN DEMAND
The report showed startups are increasingly hiring professionals with work experience instead of freshers.
The share of hiring for candidates with 0-3 years of experience fell from 41 per cent in 2025 to 36 per cent in 2026.
Meanwhile, professionals with 4-10 years of experience now account for nearly half of all startup hiring.
According to the report, this reflects demand for employees who can handle execution, operations, AI systems, product development, and business growth with less training time.
Most startup jobs remained concentrated in mid-level salary brackets.
Around 54 per cent of startup jobs offered salaries between 0-6 lakh annually, while 34 per cent were in the 6-15 lakh range.
Roles offering 15 lakh and above accounted for around 12 per cent of hiring and were largely linked to AI, data science, leadership, and specialised technology positions.