PE-VC investments rise 8% to $7.9 bn in Q1 2025; 18 mega deals drive $5.1 bn

Private Equity–Venture Capital (PE-VC) firms invested over $7.9 billion (across 270 deals) in Indian companies during the first three months of 2025, thanks to 18 mega deals worth over $5 billion, which drove up the overall deal value.

The investment amount represents a 8% rise over the $7.3 billion (across 264 deals) invested in the same period during 2024 and a minor decline of 1% when compared to the immediate previous quarter (which witnessed $8 billion being invested across 262 deals), according to the data shared by data and analysis platform Venture Intelligence. Deal volumes in Q1’25 increased by 2% compared to Q1’24 and also were up by 3% compared to the immediate previous quarter.

These figures include VC investments, but exclude PE investments in real estate.

Q1’25 witnessed 18 mega deals ($100 M+ rounds) worth $5.1 billion, compared to 10 such investments (worth $4.6 billion) in Q1’24 and 20 such deals (worth $4.9 billion) in the immediate previous quarter.

The largest investment in Q1’25 was the $508 million in a publicly listed NBFC gold loan company Manappuram Finance, by Bain Capital. KKR acquiring a controlling stake in hospital chain Healthcare Global for $400 million was the second biggest deal of the quarter, followed by a $350 million investment in data analytics and AI (artificial intelligence) solutions provider Impetus Technologies by Kedaara Capital.

The $275 million investment of primary and secondary in SaaS focused healthcare unicorn Innovaccer by B Capital Group, M12 and others was the fourth biggest deal. E-commerce platform Meesho‘s closing of a $270 million tranche as part of its ongoing funding round (from Peak XV Partners, Tiger Global, WestBridge, Think Investments, Mars Growth Capital and others) completed the top five investments for the period.

Led by the $350 million investment led by Kedaara Capital in Impetus Technologies, IT & ITES emerged as the top industry for the quarter by attracting $3.8 billion across 149 deals. This Impetus investment was followed by $275 million investment in healthtech unicorn Innovaccer and a $270 million investment in e-commerce unicorn Meesho by Mars Growth Capital, Peak XV Partners, Think Investments, Tiger Global, WestBridge Capital and other investors.

The Healthcare & Life Sciences industry followed with $1.1 billion investment across 28 deals in Q1’25. Deals in the industry were led by KKR’s $400 million acquisition of Bangalore-based hospital chain HealthCare Global and $123 million investment in Delhi-based pharma company Tirupati Medicare, and $109 million investment in Chennai-based diagnostic service provider Neuberg Diagnostics.

The FMCG industry attracted about $1 billion across 20 deals during Q1’25. Investments in the industry were led by a $29 million investment in Mumbai-based skincare brand Foxtale by Z47 (formerly Matrix Partners India), Kae Capital, Panthera Growth Partners and others. This was followed by $23 million investment in cosmetics brand Pilgrim by Anicut Capital, Mirabilis Investment Trust, Narotam Sekhsaria Family Office, Vertex & Others and a $16 million investment in Mumbai-based healthy snacks seller The Whole Truth by Peak XV Partners, Sauce VC, Sofina, Z47.

India has seen recovery in startup fundraising over the past one year. In VC funding separately, India remained the fourth-highest funded country in 2024, with the U.S., the U.K. and China leading the pack. While early- and late-stage funding surged 6.29% and 8.14%, respectively, the seed stage fell 19.36% year-on-year to $1.08 billion. The average value of a VC deal also grew to $10 million in 2024 from $7 million in 2023, while deals valued over $100 million increased to 21 from 14.