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.
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 inManipal Hospitalsby 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 focusedHDFC Credilaby Baring Asia and ChrysCapital and the $1 billion investment by Qatar InvestmentAuthority (QIA) inReliance Retail.
“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 startupZepto(which raised $231 million led by foreign investors in August 2023, turned unicorn in August while consumer and small business loans firmIncred Finance, which secured $60 million from domestic family offices and HNIs, became unicorn in December.
