Mumbai, Mar 11: Praxis Global Alliance and the Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association (IVCA) have unveiled their joint flagship report, the India Growth Equity Report 2026, at the IVCA Conclave 2026. The report provides a comprehensive analysis of India’s growth equity landscape, with detailed insights on deal activity, sectoral trends, exits, fundraising, and the outlook for growth investments in India.

 In 2025, total private investments reached US$ 59.3 billion across 1,885 deals — the best year ever by deal volume and second best by deal value. Growth equity investments sustained at US$ 10.2 billion across 328 deals, with deal count surging 44% over 2024 as average deal sizes moderated to US$ 31.2 million, reflecting a broadening of growth capital to a larger number of smaller, high-potential businesses. BFSI, Consumer & Retail and Business/Tech Services together accounted for 72% of total growth equity value at approximately US$ 7.1 billion, while Healthcare & Life Sciences and Transportation & Logistics recorded strong momentum. Exits from growth stage deals soared 49% to US$ 6.7 billion, with public markets leading at 54%, secondary sales at 25%, and a sharp rebound in strategic sale. India-focused growth funds raised US$ 5.1 billion, a six-year high providing significant dry powder for accelerated deployment over the next two to three years. Looking ahead, India presents an estimated US$ 70 billion growth equity opportunity from its early-stage pipeline alone, with only ~10% of India’s ~90,000 investible businesses having raised institutional private capital to date. For 2026, investors are bullish on Business/Tech Services, Consumer & Retail, BFSI, Healthcare & Life Sciences, and increasingly on Manufacturing, Food & Agriculture and Education as emerging growth equity destinations.

Key Highlights:

• India is on track to become the world’s third largest economy by 2028, with GDP projected at US$ 5.4T and real GDP growth forecast at 6.2% for 2026 and 6.4% for 2027 — outpacing the US (2.1%), China (4.5%) and Germany (1.5%). With a composite PMI of 58 — the highest globally — exports reaching US$ 850B and a demographic dividend running until 2055, India’s structural growth runway remains unmatched among peer economies.

• Average growth equity deal size fell sharply to US$ 31.2M — a 32% drop versus 2024 as investors backed more smaller businesses, democratising access to growth capital. Competitive intensity rose to 1.8 funds per deal from 1.5 in 2024, reflecting deepening co-investment activity and a more collaborative, broadly accessible growth equity market.

• BFSI, Consumer & Retail and Business/Tech Services captured 72% of total growth equity at ~US$ 7.1B, with top deals including Zepto (US$ 450M), Moengage (US$ 280M), Innovaccer (US$ 275M), Rapido (US$ 273M) and Uniphore (US$ 260M). Healthcare & Life Sciences and Transportation & Logistics recorded strong year-on-year growth, while Manufacturing, Food & Agriculture and Education are flagged as the most exciting emerging destinations for 2026.

• Sunrise sub-sectors recorded explosive PE momentum — educational institutions (35x growth multiple), construction materials (7.1x), employability and staffing (5.7x), diagnostics (2.8x) and ecommerce enablers and B2B marketplaces (2.2x). This signals India’s growth equity landscape is rapidly diversifying well beyond its traditional technology-heavy investment thesis into real-economy sectors.

• Top growth funds closed in 2025 include Quadria Capital Fund III (US$ 1.07B), India Business Excellence Fund-V by Motilal Oswal (US$ 800M), A91 Emerging Fund III (US$ 665M), TVS Shriram Growth Fund IV (US$ 413M) and Bessemer India Capital Holdings II (US$ 350M), collectively raising US$ 3.3B. Their successful closes reflect strong and sustained LP confidence in India’s growth equity opportunity.

• Public market exits from growth investments hit a record US$ 3.7B across 30 deals — the highest since 2021 — led by Groww (US$ 560M), Aptus (US$ 492M) and Pine Labs (US$ 180M). Secondary exits also recovered to US$ 1.7B across 22 deals, with public market and secondary routes together accounting for 78% of all growth stage exit value in 2025.

• Over 50% of sub-US$ 300M IPOs from the last three years are trading below their listing price as of March 2026, with ~80% of India’s 2025 IPOs falling below the US$ 300M mark. This, combined with corrected public market valuations and global uncertainty, is driving GPs to increasingly favour private secondary transactions as a preferred and more reliable exit route in 2026.

• Climate and sustainability investments held steady at 25 deals in 2025 but total deal value halved to US$ 700M from US$ 1.6B in 2024, reflecting investor caution on deal sizing even as structural interest remains intact. Top investments spanned batteries, renewable energy, EV mobility and agri-tech, with SunMobility (US$ 60M), Ampin Energy (US$ 50M) and Ultraviolette (US$ 45M) leading the pack.

• The 2026 outlook is firmly positive, with investors bullish on Business/Tech Services, Consumer & Retail, BFSI, Healthcare & Life Sciences and increasingly Manufacturing, Food & Agriculture and Education. Exit strategies are set to diversify meaningfully, with private secondaries gaining ground alongside active strategic M&A, as India’s strong GDP growth, demographic dividend and deepening capital markets cement its position as one of the world’s most compelling growth equity destinations.

Speaking at the launch of the report at the IVCA Conclave 2026, Madhur Singhal, Managing Partner and CEO, Praxis Global Alliance, said,

“India’s growth equity story in 2025 is one of resilience, depth and broadening ambition. Despite significant global headwinds, we witnessed a remarkable 44% surge in growth deals, with 606 funds actively backing Indian businesses — nearly double the number from just two years ago. What excites us most is not just the scale, but the direction: capital is flowing deeper into the ecosystem, reaching more sectors, more cities and more founders than ever before. The exits story is equally compelling US$ 6.7 billion returned from growth stage investments in a single year, with public markets, strategic buyers and secondary transactions all firing together, is a powerful validation of India’s maturing capital ecosystem. And as we look to 2026, the breadth of investor interest, the diversity of sectors attracting capital, and the strength of India’s macro fundamentals give us every reason to be deeply optimistic about what lies ahead.”

Speaking at the launch of the report at the IVCA Conclave 2026, Akshat Gupta, Principal, Private Capital, Praxis Global Alliance, said,

“One of the most encouraging developments in 2025 has been the strength and diversification of exit pathways for growth investors. Exits from growth stage investments surged to US$ 6.7 billion, a 49% increase over 2024 with public markets contributing over half of the value, alongside a strong recovery in strategic sales and secondary transactions. This reflects the growing depth of India’s capital markets and increasing corporate appetite for high-quality growth assets.With US$ 5.1 billion in fresh dry powder raised by growth funds alone, and a US$ 70 billion opportunity pipeline sitting in India’s early-stage funnel, the next few years could be truly transformational for Indian growth equity. India is not just growing, it is compounding. As the ecosystem matures, we expect exits and capital recycling to play an even larger role in sustaining India’s growth equity flywheel.”

Speaking at the launch of the report, Rajat Tandon, President IVCA said,

“India’s growth equity landscape is maturing rapidly as more companies transition from early scale to institution-grade businesses. This report highlights how alternate capital is playing a critical role in supporting that journey—providing patient capital, governance and strategic guidance. As India’s economy expands, growth equity will be instrumental in shaping the next generation of globally competitive Indian enterprises.”