Venture Capital | Page 3

As venture funding tightens, founders are increasingly tapping grants, venture debt, and revenue-based financing to extend their runway without giving up ownership

As capital access tightens amid rising interest rates, this financing shift serves as both protection and a catalyst for India's entrepreneurial landscape

In India, firms are doubling down on tech-led diligence and proprietary data-driven strategies. As AI adoption deepens, it promises to sharpen competitive edges, even as challenges around infrastructure and talent persist.

A homegrown venture capital firm, and at the helm of it, founder and managing partner, Vikram Gupta, whose tech-focused investment thesis is making careful bets in artificial intelligence (AI), healthtech, and other deep tech sectors. The firm's origin is unique: a venture capital fund backed by Indian institutional money and a strong IIT alumni trust.

A tailwind caused by factors such as internet penetration, evolving demographics, and policy changes is among the trends that have enabled the rise of new age consumer companies such as Swiggy, Urban Company, Boldfit, and more, said the report.

India's defence-tech landscape is undergoing a revolution, driven by a mix of policy liberalisation, heightened geopolitical urgency, and an emerging breed of deeptech startups.

Private equity and venture capital (PE/VC) investments in India declined by 53 per cent in May 2025 compared to April 2025 in value terms, according to an EY-IVCA report.

Drawing on lessons from Ola, where funds in the early days dismissed the notion of a 'cab company' as a billion-dollar opportunity, Harsha emphasized that insights as an operator sharpen one's ability to identify potential and empathize deeply.

American VC continues to be a key contributor to this trend, with US-based private equity giants like Blackstone planning a USD 25 billion India PE portfolio over five years, citing the country's stable regulations and immense growth in digital infrastructure.

Restrictive regulations of the government have resulted in inadequate domestic capital for the Indian startup ecosystem, said Mohandas Pai, Chairman at Aarin Capital, who called for reforms in policy and better investments to drive the ecosystem in an interview with PTI.

In an ecosystem where product cycles are seemingly short and founder burnout is real, having a partner that has walked the same path can make all the difference, not just in raising another funding round, but in building sustainable businesses.

At a time when Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to dominate many facets of life, the education technology sector is emerging as one of the more promising ones.

The tech industry veteran brings over 25 years of experience to Bessemer, where he will focus on AI, enterprise-tech and cybersecurity investments in India.

Investors now are becoming more discerning, not about backing fewer companies but about backing smarter, deeper, and more mission-critical ventures.

When Anirudh Damani returned to India after selling a venture in the US, he encountered something in India's entrepreneurial landscape that changed the trajectory of his journey and led to the creation of Artha Venture Fund.

Fund III aims to fuel the next generation of tech-driven startups in India.

Schema Ventures will invest across sectors such as industrial software, robotics, intelligence for factories, construction, logistics, workflow intelligence, and developer tools.

PE investments remained steady at USD 29 billion, as funds contended with higher valuations driven by buoyant public markets. Furthermore, India became the Asia-Pacific region's second-largest PE-VC destination with a 20 per cent share of total investment, displaying growing investor confidence in the country's macroeconomic stability.

Sectors such as consumer/retail, fintech, and healthcare saw significant exit growth during the period. Meanwhile, strong public market exits helped balance the sharp decline in strategic sales, according to a Bain & Company-IVCA report.

According to Chaturvedi, AWE Funds invests in climate mitigation, adaptation, and resilience, which means investing in climate tech, health tech, the future of work, skilling, and fintech, which ultimately translates to financial inclusion.

According to the report, PE/VC investments in Q1 2025 were also recorded 14 per cent lower than in Q1 2024 (US$13.7 billion in 1Q2025 versus US$15.9 billion in 1Q2024 and US$14 billion in 4Q2024).