New Delhi, June 12 -- Private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) deal activity picked up after several weeks of sluggishness, with early-stage investments dominating the charts, data collated by VCCircle showed.
As many as 30 companies raised $239 million (Rs 2,274 crore) in PE-VC funding rounds during the five-day period ended June 12, marking a nearly 58% increase in deal volume from the previous week, the data showed.
This week's deal count exceeded the 11-28 range recorded each week since early March, signalling a potential recovery in investment activity, according to VCCircle's analysis.
However, the aggregate value of deals was slightly lower than last week's $263 million, as no transactions above the $100 million mark were announced during the period.
Clean energy retained the top spot among sectors, with Neev Fund-backed GPS Renewables Pvt Ltd raising Rs 635 crore ($66.3 million) in a Series C funding round, with the equity investment led by PixelSky Capital.
Artificial intelligence (AI) startups also attracted strong investor interest. Call assistant startup Equal AI secured $30 million in a funding round co-led by Prosus Ventures and Tomales Bay Capital.
Other notable deals in the $20-30 million range included Ethereal Machines raising capital from Avataar Ventures, Mygate securing funding led by Dharana Capital, and Exponent Energy attracting investment from 360 ONE Asset and TDK Ventures.
Among smaller transactions, early-stage rounds of $10 million or less were recorded in the biotechnology, consumer, and robotics sectors, including deals involving Immuneel Therapeutics, Rekise Marine, Manam Chocolate, and BazaarNow.
Meanwhile, merger and acquisition (M&A) activity edged up to five deals this week from four a week ago.
In the largest deal of the week, Adani Energy Solutions Ltd said it would buy IntelliSmart Infrastructure Pvt Ltd from the government-backed National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) and state-owned Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL). The Rs 3,050 crore ($319 million) deal would create India's largest smart metering platform.
Quality Power Electrical Equipments Ltd, a high-voltage equipment maker, agreed to acquire Winwin Speciality Insulators Ltd (WSIL) at an enterprise value of about Rs 315 crore ($33 million). The deal is the latest in a series of acquisitions by Quality Power across the high-voltage equipment value chain.
Separately, Carlyle-backed Viyash Scientific Ltd expanded its animal healthcare portfolio by agreeing to acquire Europe-based BioForLife Italia, a pet healthcare company.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.