Venture debt financing in India remained largely flat in the first half of 2026 as a slowdown in venture capital funding for mature startups limited the pool of companies that met the criteria for such loans, data shows.Lenders, however, expect equity funding in deep-tech sectors to pick up, expanding the number of companies that can tap venture debt.In the January to June period, Alteria Capital deployed about Rs 680 crore across 48 companies,