PE-VC records $3.4 billion investments in Jan

CHENNAI: Private Equity - Venture Capital (PE-VC) funding in India started off on a flat note in 2025 recording $3.4 billion investments in January against $3.5 billion in the same period previous year (CY2024).

The number of deals increased by 22 last month to 103 when compared with Jan 2024 that recorded 81 deals. The PE investments compiled exclude those from the real estate sector.

Data released by research firm Venture Intelligence has revealed that 10 mega deals ($100 million and above) registered a cumulative $2.5 billion in PE-VC investments in January this year. However, just two mega deals contributed for $2.7 billion in the corresponding month last year (January 2024).

Private equity firm Kedaara Capital announcing a $350 million investment in Impetus Technologies, a provider of data, analytics and AI solutions, topped the deal last month. Healthcare-focused SaaS firm Innovaccer Inc closing a $275 million funding round with participation from investors including B Capital Group, Kaiser Permanente and M12 came second. The third largest deal was ecommerce firm Meesho closing $270 million in financing with investors including Peak XV Partners, Tiger Global, WestBridge, Think Investments, Mars Growth Capital.

Arun Natarajan, founder, Venture Intelligence said PE-VC investments have begun on a reasonably brisk clip on the back of mega investments in SaaS, AI and analytics companies such as Impetus Technologies, Innovaccer and Wingify.

“On the positive side, the richly valued acquisition of VC-backed skin care startup Minimalist by Hindustan Unilever (on the back of the Mamaearth IPO) is likely to re-invigorate D2C/consumer brand investments,” he told TOI.

Queried about the impact of the Union budget 2025-26 on PE-VC investments, he said the tax breaks for the middle class announced in the budget also has the potential to catalyze consumer spending in the medium term.

"The other announcements regarding a new fund-of-funds including for deep tech will naturally be welcomed by domestic PE-VC investors. A fund-of-fund is indeed a more enlightened approach for deploying taxpayers’ money than direct investments by the govt in private companies,” he added.

It may be recalled that CY2024 ended with PE-VC investments of $31.1 billion, the lowest since CY2019 in India.