India’s private equity and venture capital market saw a sharp pullback in April, with investments falling to $2.7 billion across 83 deals, making it the slowest month for PE/VC activity in nearly two-and-a-half years.  

According to the IVCA-EY PE/VC monthly roundup report, investments were down 49% from $5.3 billion in April last year and 51% lower than March 2026. Deal count also fell sharply, down from 134 deals a year ago and 131 in March. “April recorded US$2.7 billion in PE/VC investments… It is also the lowest monthly PE/VC investment value in past 29 months,” said Vivek Soni, Partner and National Leader, Private Equity Services, EY.

Pure-play PE/VC investments stood at $1.8 billion during the month, down 23% year-on-year, while investments in infrastructure and real estate dropped 69% to $929 million. 

The slowdown was visible across categories, though growth-stage deals still saw some traction. Growth investments led activity at $1.4 billion, while startup investments came in at $756 million. Startup funding remained weak compared to last year, falling 57%, while credit investments declined 82%. PIPE or private investment in private equity activity was almost absent during the month.  

Reasons for the slowdown

Soni says that the depreciation of the Indian Rupee to around ₹96/USD, coupled with persistently high crude oil and gas prices amid geopolitical tensions is weighing on foreign investor sentiments. Even Q4 earnings for the current financial year have so far been mixed and with pump fuel prices and cost of imported goods going up, inflation and interest rate curves are expected to inch northwards. 

Real estate emerges as winner 

Large-ticket deals still drove a big chunk of overall activity. April saw nine deals above $100 million, accounting for 62% of total PE/VC investments. Real estate was the biggest sector during the month with $699 million in investments, followed by financial services at $440 million and technology at $361 million. The largest transaction was ICICI Prudential Alternatives’ $283 million investment in two RMZ office assets in Bengaluru and Pune.

Among the larger non-real-estate deals, a recent unicorn, KreditBee parent Finnovation Tech Solutions raised $280 million from investors including Advent, MOPE and Whiteoak Capital, while Apothecon secured $270 million from Everstone Pharmaceuticals. Baby Memorial Hospital raised $186 million from KKR and Wingify Software attracted $150 million from Everstone and others. In the infrastructure and real estate segment, International Tech Park Chennai attracted $157 million from 360 One, while Bain Capital invested $120 million into a Bengaluru project through a JV with Brigade Group.  

Karnataka remained the most active state by deal volume with 22 transactions, followed by Maharashtra and Delhi.

Exit activity sees a slight increase 

Exit activity, however, held up relatively better. PE/VC exits stood at $730 million across 15 deals in April, up 18% year-on-year, although lower than March levels. Secondary deals accounted for the bulk of exits, contributing 59% of the total exit value.  

The largest exit during the month was CapitaLand’s sale of its stake in International Tech Park Chennai to Mindspace Business Parks REIT and 360 One for $326 million. Other notable exits included Norwest Venture Partners’ exit from Sila Solutions to Permira for $90 million and Nexus Venture Partners’ open-market exit from Delhivery worth $78 million.  

The report said investor sentiment continues to remain cautious amid rupee depreciation, elevated crude prices and valuation mismatches between buyers and sellers. “The bid-ask spread between investor valuations and seller expectations continues to remain wide,” Soni said, adding that investors were slowing deployment despite significant dry powder available in the market.