Private Equity, Venture Capital Investments Hit $5.3 Bn in Oct: EY-IVCA

Private equity and venture capital (PE/VC) investments in India touched $5.3 billion across 102 deals in October 2025, marking a 9% rise year-on-year, according to the EY-IVCA monthly roundup.

"The number of deals decreased to 102 in October 2025, a 9% year-on-year (112 deals in October 2024) and 30% decline month-on-month (145 deals in September 2025)," said Vivek Soni, Partner and National Leader, Private Equity Service, EY.

Pure-play PE/VC investments hit a 13-month high of $5 billion - an 81% increase over October 2024 - while real estate and infrastructure investments fell sharply by 86%.

Private investments in public equity (PIPE) emerged as the dominant deal category, surging nearly ten-fold to $2.1 billion. Startup investments followed at $2 billion, up 175% year-on-year. Growth investments fell to $810 million, while buyouts remained flat at $227 million.

Credit investments dropped 90% to $189 million.

Large-ticket deals continued to play an outsize role, with nine transactions worth $3.7 billion accounting for 70% of overall inflows. The largest was International Holding Company's $1-billion purchase of a 43.46% stake in Sammaan Capital.

Financial services dominated sectoral activity with $2.9 billion in investments, followed by e-commerce at $715 million and technology at $455 million - together representing 77% of total PE/VC inflows in October.

PE/VC exits fell sharply to $640 million across 14 deals in October 2025, down 43% from October 2024 and significantly lower than the $2.6 billion recorded in September. Open-market transactions accounted for 37% of the exit value at $234 million.

The biggest exit of the month was Advent's $186 million sale of a 2% stake in Aditya Birla Capital.

Fundraising activity rose to $1.8 billion, compared with $209 million a year earlier. The largest raise was HSBC's $1 billion fund to support short-term working capital and term loans for early and late-stage start-ups.

EY said the broader PE/VC landscape is entering an active phase shaped by mixed Q2 earnings, resilient performance in banking, IT and FMCG, and margin pressures in manufacturing and commodities. The Bihar election outcome, potential shifts in US trade policy under President Trump, strong GST collections and easing inflation could support capital flows and new capex cycles.

Soni noted that buoyant capital markets and high IPO appetite continue to pose valuation challenges for private deal-making, but added that a potential US-India FTA could potentially provide the trigger for sentiment change.