The private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) investments in India dropped by 38 per cent to less than nearly $30 billion in 2023 from $47.6 billion in 2022, according to the research firm Venture Intelligence focusing on private company financials, transactions, and their valuations. $29.7 billion was invested across 756 deals in Indian companies in 2023, compared to 1,362 deals in the previous year excluding PE investments in real estate.
2023 PE-VC deal value and volume were the lowest in five years. Between 2019 and 2023, investments peaked at $65.48 billion across 1,456 deals in 2021 from $36.41 billion invested in 1,085 deals in 2019, data showed.
“While large ticket PE investors focused their attention towards sectors like healthcare, financial services and infrastructure, 2023 saw the slowdown in growth and late-stage investing trickle into the venture capital segment as well,” said Arun Natarajan, Founder, Venture Intelligence.
2023 witnessed 67 mega deals involving over $100 million rounds worth $21.2 billion, compared to 112 such investments worth $31.8 billion in 2022. The $2.4 billion investment in Manipal Hospitals by Temasek (which gained majority control) and TPG Capital was the largest PE-VC investment in 2023.
This was followed by the $1.35 billion buyout of education loans focused HDFC
“Towards the year-end, on the back of the strong public markets, private markets received a dose of optimism, which also translated into a few large growth stage tech investments going through,” said Natarajan.
Moreover, in comparison to 2022 with 21 unicorns and 2021 with a record 44 unicorns created, last year only two unicorns hit the billion-dollar valuation mark. The 10-minute grocery delivery startup Zepto (which raised $231 million led by foreign investors in August 2023, turned unicorn in August while consumer and small business loans firm Incred Finance, which secured $60 million from domestic family offices and HNIs, became unicorn in December.
