According to the EY-IVCA monthly PE/VC roundup, private equity and venture capital investments in India increased by 11% in 1H2025 compared to 2H2024 in value terms.

Vivek Soni, Partner and National Leader, Private Equity Services, EY said, “1H2025 recorded US$26.4 billion in PE/VC investments, 19% lower than investments in 1H2024 (US$32.4 billion) and 11% higher than in 2H2024 (US$23.8 billion). The number of deals in 1H2025 was 16% lower year-on-year."

Pure-play PE/VC investments in 1H2025 (US$18.3 billion) declined by 3% compared to 1H2024 (US$18.9 billion). The real estate and infrastructure asset class declined by 40% (US$8.1 billion in 1H2025 vs. US$13.5 billion in 1H2024). Compared to 2H2024, pure-play PE/VC investments were up by 13% (US$16.2 billion), and real estate and infrastructure investments were up by 6% (US$7.6 billion). In terms of the number of deals, pure-play investments declined by 6%, whereas real estate and infrastructure deals declined by 54% year-on-year.

In 1H2025, start-up investment deals emerged as the highest at US$6.8 billion, followed by growth investments at US$6.5 billion. From a sector point of view, infrastructure was the top sector in 1H2025, recording US$5.8 billion in investments, followed by financial services (US$4 billion).

PE/VC exits stood at US$11.6 billion across 99 deals in 1H2025, 2% higher than in 1H2024 (US$11.3 billion). Strategic exits accounted for 39% of the total exit value in 1H2025 (US$4.5 billion).

PE/VC investment activity has largely remained subdued in the first half of 2025, characterized by month-on-month volatility and a notable decline in both deal value and volume. Investor sentiment continues to be weighed down by a combination of macroeconomic factors and heightened geopolitical headwinds. Further, the volatility in public markets, particularly across the mid-cap and small-cap segments, had adversely impacted IPO activity in the past few months, thereby limiting exit opportunities for investors. A persistent challenge remains the wide bid-ask spread, which continues to stretch deal closures. The upcoming quarterly corporate earnings announcements will be a key indicator for market direction. While early signals such as strong GST collections, the recent rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India, and the IPO pipeline are encouraging, the outlook is cautiously optimistic given the concerns on earnings growth and the US-India FTA discussions that are stretching timelines. We expect that deal activity could gain momentum in the second half of the year as earnings performance and US-India FTA is behind us.”

Investments

On a half-yearly basis, PE/VC investments in 1H2025 by value recorded a 19% year-on-year decline and an 11% increase compared to 2H2024 (US$26.4 billion in 1H2025 vs. US$32.4 billion in 1H2024 and US$23.8 billion in 2H2024). 1H2025 has recorded 47% of last year’s investment value. In terms of the number of deals, 1H2025 recorded a decline of 16% compared to 1H2024 and a 9% decline compared to 2H2024 (593 deals in 1H2025 vs. 704 deals in 1H2024 and 649 deals in 2H2024).

Pure-play PE/VC investments (excluding real estate and infrastructure sectors) in 1H2025 (US$18.3 billion) were 3% lower compared to 1H2024 (US$18.9 billion) and 13% higher compared to 2H2024 (US$16.2 billion). These accounted for 69% of total PE/VC investments in 1H2025. Real estate and infrastructure asset class investments declined by 40% compared to 1H2024 and increased by 6% compared to 2H2024 (US$8.1 billion in 1H2025 vs. US$13.5 billion in 1H2024 and US$7.6 billion in 2H2024).

1H2025 recorded 60 large deals (deals above US$100 million) aggregating to US$19.4 billion, compared to 69 large deals aggregating to US$22.7 billion in 1H2024—a 15% decline. Compared to 2H2024, the value of large deals was 26% higher, which had recorded 57 large deals aggregating to US$15.4 billion. In value terms, large deals accounted for 73% of overall PE/VC investments in 1H2025. The largest deal in 1H2025 was New Mountain Capital's US$1.5 billion Access Healthcare Services deal.

• By deal type: Start-ups led the pack with US$6.8 billion invested across 366 deals,a 41% year-on-year increase in value terms (US$4.8 billion across 323 deals in 1H2024) and 32% higher compared to 2H2024 (US$5.2 billion across 322 deals).
• Growth investments stood at US$6.5 billion across 113 deals, reflecting a 15% year-on-year decline (US$7.6 billion across 88 deals in 1H2024).
• Buyout investments recorded a 38% year-on-year decline (US$6.2 billion across 26 deals in 1H2025 vs. US$10 billion across 28 deals in 1H2024). Credit investments recorded US$4.2 billion across 48 deals vs. US$6.6 billion across 191 deals in 1H2024.
• PIPE deals were the lowest, with US$2.7 billion across 40 deals vs. US$3.4 billion across 74 deals in 1H2024.

From a sector perspective, infrastructure was at the top in 1H2025 (US$5.8 billion across 29 deals), 21% lower than the US$7.4 billion across 57 deals in 1H2024. Financial services secured the second rank with US$4.0 billion invested across 103 deals, 27% lower than the US$5.4 billion recorded across 113 deals in 1H2024. The technology sector took the third spot, with US$3.8 billion recorded across 81 deals, a 56% year-on-year increase (US$2.4 billion across 94 deals in 1H2024).

Also Read: Agritech Startups Received Just 2% of VC Funding Since 2020

PE/VC trends in the financial services sector

The financial services sector has been the largest sector in terms of pure-play PE/VC investments over the past decade. From 2015 to June 2025, the sector has received a total of US$75.4 billion in PE/VC investments, 61% of which has come in the past five years (since 2020).

PE/VC investments in 2021 were the highest ever for the sector at US$11.7 billion, marking a 151% year-on-year increase. It is also the largest sector in terms of the number of deals, with over 1,000 deals in the past five years (1,131 deals since 2020).

FinTech has been the most preferred sub-sector for PE/VC investments since 2020. It received investments worth US$16.5 billion (36% of total PE/VC investments since 2019). The FinTech ecosystem has continued to demonstrate strong growth, with many segments delivering strong profitability while achieving scale. Rising income levels and the financialization of savings are creating new opportunities in the asset and wealth management space. This segment of the market is at an inflection point and is expected to witness exponential growth over the next decade. This was followed by NBFCs (US$11.2 billion) and housing finance (US$4.3 billion), which cumulatively accounted for 70% of overall PE/VC investments in the financial services sector since 2020.

The trend in financial services sector investments has been dominated by start-up funding of new-age, tech-enabled business models that are disrupting traditional ways of providing financial services. Start-up investments accounted for 41% of total PE/VC investments in financial services since 2020. This trend is expected to strengthen, as more PE/VC funds back financial services companies that leverage technology to solve real-world problems related to payments and distribution, customer acquisition, collections, and more.

The sector recorded exits worth US$27.3 billion across 293 exits. Open market exits accounted for 69% of overall exits since 2020 (US$19 billion).

The shift in investor interest towards lending businesses like NBFCs and Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) has been pronounced lately. The future outlook for NBFCs in India appears promising, driven by factors such as the ongoing digital revolution, growing GDP, and increasing credit demand. Government support, including liquidity provisions and initiatives like the partial credit guarantee scheme, aims to address challenges faced by this sector as it acts as an agent for propelling financial penetration.

We expect the financial services and FinTech space to continue attracting a significant share of PE/VC flows, reflecting the sector's strong fundamentals and the positive outlook on India's economic growth.

Exits

On a year-on-year basis, exits recorded a 2% increase in value in 1H2025 (US$11.6 billion) compared to 1H2024 (US$11.3 billion), but were 31% lower compared to 2H2024 (US$16.8 billion). Further, the deal value of 38 exits was undisclosed, which also impacted the aggregate exit value reported. The number of exits in 1H2025 (99 exits) was 39% lower than in 1H2024 (161 exits) and 20% lower than in 2H2024 (123 exits).

Strategic exits had the highest value, with US$4.5 billion recorded across 42 deals, accounting for 39% of all exits in 1H2025. On a year-on-year basis, strategic exits recorded a 480% growth in value (US$0.8 billion across 29 exits in 1H2024). Next in line were open market exits at US$4 billion across 32 deals—a 50% decline from 1H2024 (US$8 billion). Secondary exits recorded 15 deals worth US$1.6 billion, a 12% year-on-year decline in value compared to 1H2024 (US$1.8 billion across 28 deals).

PE-backed IPOs recorded US$1.5 billion in exits across eight IPOs in 1H2025, compared to US$753 million across 18 IPOs in 1H2024—a growth of 103%.

From a sector perspective, the infrastructure sector recorded the highest value of exits in 1H2025 at US$4.3 billion across six exits, a 435% year-on-year growth compared to 1H2024 (US$803 million across six exits). Financial services was the next largest sector, with 18 exits worth US$1.7 billion—52% lower compared to 1H2024 (US$3.5 billion across 46 exits).

Fundraise

1H2025 recorded US$8.4 billion in fundraises across 54 funds, marking a 26% increase compared to the US$6.7 billion raised across 45 funds in 1H2024.. This also represents a 173% increase compared to US$3.1 billion raised in 2H2024.

Quadria Capital’s fundraise of US$1.1 billion, to build a diversified portfolio of approximately 10 market-leading companies, taking both significant minority and majority stakes, was the largest fundraise in 1H2025.