New Delhi, July 24 -- Private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) deal activity picked up in the week ended July 24, although the aggregate capital raised declined sharply from last week, data collated by VCCircle showed.

The number of companies securing PE-VC funding rose to 17, raising a combined $191 million during the five-day period ended Friday, compared with 13 firms that pocketed $643 million in the previous week, the data showed. However, the absence of any big-ticket deal above $100 million weighed on the overall investment value.

Financial services, technology and manufacturing emerged as the top sectors attracting investor interest.

Banking software provider BusinessNext, precision manufacturing firm Raghu Vamsi Aerospace, and integrated wealth management platform Veriqus Group each raised $40 million from a mix of strategic and private equity players such as ServiceNow, Norwest Venture Partners, and Skegen Asset Management.

Indian government-anchored National Investment and Infrastructure Fund's (NIIF) $22 million investment in Mumbai-based shadow bank Viksit Capital, alongside PE firm Vixar Partners, was also a significant deal in the financial sector this week.

Other notable deals below $15 million included funding rounds for Plazza, CARPL.ai, and FreshTerra, backed by investors such as Accel, Elevation Capital, Nexus Venture Partners, International Finance Corporation (IFC), and 3one4 Capital.

Meanwhile, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity also weakened this week, with six deals versus nine the previous week. The aggregate transaction value tumbled to below $50 million from nearly $2 billion last week.

Among the notable deals, Wipro Consumer Care International agreed to acquire the Philippines-based S Brands for an undisclosed sum, while Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting acquired the Good Home and Eva brands from TTK Healthcare for $26 million.

Other deals included Godrej Capital's acquisition of Kanakadurga Finance's gold loan business for $12.1 million and Mumbai-listed Akums Drugs and Pharmaceuticals' purchase of Oriflame India's manufacturing business.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.