India In Sight #93
Weekly updates on Indian private markets. Featuring reports on 'India’s Ultra-HNIs' by Kotak Private Wealth and 'Indian family offices' by PWC.
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Key reports in this edition:
Top of the Pyramid: Decoding India’s Ultra-HNIs by Kotak Private Wealth
Indian family offices – the new investors for India’s startup ecosystem by PWC
How India shops online 2025 by Bain
Data Centre 101 by JM Financial
Indian Media & Entertainment industry report by EY & FICCI
India’s Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) Report by IMF
KEY DEALS
Equity
PayMate, a B2B digital payment solutions provider, c.$30 million from Crimson Ventures. (March 29, 2025)
Pluckk, a B2C fresh produce food-tech platform, is looking to raise c.$10 million in its Series A funding round from Euro Gulf Investment. (March 28, 2025)
Smallcase, a model portfolios platform, raised c.$50 million in its Series D funding round led by Elev8 Venture Partners. Other investor include State Street, Niveshaay AIF, Faering Capital and Arkam Ventures. (March 28, 2025)
CPPIB and OTPP invested c.$485 million (c.$242 million each) in the follow-on investment round of National Highways Authority of India’s InvIT. (March 27, 2025)
Abound, a financial super-app designed for Indians in the US, raised c.$14 million in a seed funding round led by NEAR Foundation. Other investors include Circle Ventures, and Times Internet. (March 27, 2025)
Kotak Strategic Situations Fund invested c.$125 million in Tirupati Medicare, a nutraceutical contract manufacturing company, buying out Affirma Capital’s stake in the company. (March 26, 2025)
Siemens Energy to sell c.90% stake in Siemens Gamesa, its wind engineering assets in India and Sri Lanka, to a consortium led by TPG. The exact financial details were not disclosed. (March 26, 2025)
Nexthop AI, an AI infrastructure for cloud companies, raised c.$110 million in a funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. Other investors include Kleiner Perkins, WestBridge Capital, Battery Ventures, and Emergent Ventures. (March 26, 2025)
Country Delight, a D2C dairy and daily essential brand, raised c.$25 million in its Series E funding round from Temasek. (March 26, 2025)
[Exit] GIC sold c.50% stake in DLF Urban, a luxury housing project in New Delhi, to DLF Home Developers, for c.$58 million. (March 25, 2025)
Grow Indigo, an agritech startup, raised c.$10 million from British International Investment for expanding sustainability programs across India. (March 25, 2025)
Actis, a global investor in sustainable infrastructure, acquired 100% stake in Stride Climate Investments, a solar generation asset portfolio, from a fund managed by Macquarie Asset Management, for an estimated c.$200 million. (March 24, 2025)
Apna Mart, an omnichannel grocery and FMCG chain, raised c.$25 million in a mix of equity and debt led by Fundamentum Fund and Accel. (March 24, 2025)
HDFC Capital, a real estate PE arm of HDFC Group, has partnered with Total Environment, a real estate developer, to set up a platform for the development of residential projects in Bengaluru for c.$150 million. (March 23, 2025)
[Expected] KKR, a global private equity firm, is looking to sell its c.10% stake in JB Chemicals, a chemicals and pharma company, for c.$300 million. (March 27, 2025)
[Expected] Groww, an online stock broking company, to raise c.$200 million ahead of its IPO, at an estimated valuation of c.$6.5 billion. (March 25, 2025)
[Expected] Zepto, a quick commerce and foodtech firm, is looking to raise c.$250 million in a pre-IPO funding round. (March 25, 2025)
Credit
Truhome Finance, a mortgage lender, raised c.$100 million in external commercial borrowing from DBS Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui. (March 28, 2025)
IREDA raised c.$110 million via Tier-II bonds at c.7.7% coupon rate. (March 25, 2025)
Curefoods, a cloud kitchen startup, is looking to raise c.$7 million in debt from BlackSoil Group and Binny Bansal (ex-Flipkart). (March 24, 2025)
Greenko Energy, a renewable energy firm, raised c.$1 billion via overseas bonds at c.7.3% coupon rate. (March 24, 2025)
Muthoot Finance raised c.$250 million from ECBs. (March 24, 2025)
KEY FUNDS AND FUNDRAISES
2am VC, an early-stage venture capital firm, launched its second fund with a target corpus of c.$25 million. (March 27, 2025)
Green Portfolio, a portfolio management service provider, launched a new fund focused on public and private equities, with a target corpus of c.$35 million. (March 26, 2025)
MARKET INSIGHTS & RESEARCH
Reports
Kotak Private Wealth’s report on ‘India’s Ultra-HNIs’ puts India’s UHNI population at 280K in 2023 with $2.7T in wealth, expected to grow to 430K with $4.2T by 2028. UHNIs are aggressively investing—32% in equities, 29% in real estate, 21% in debt and 18% in alternate assets with increasing interest in global assets (33% hold international investments). 5 in 10 UHNIs plan to invest more in alternative assets.
PWC’s report on ‘Indian family offices’ highlights the growing role of Indian family offices in the startup ecosystem. With the Indian fintech market projected to reach $150B by 2025 and digital payments crossing $10T by 2026, family offices are increasingly investing in sectors like AI, healthtech, and consumer platforms. Investment routes include direct funding, VC funds, angel networks, and incubators.
Bain’s report on ‘How India shops online 2025’ outlines that India’s e-retail market reached ~$60B in GMV in 2024, with 270M+ online shoppers (world’s 2nd largest user base), and is poised to reach $170–$190B by 2030 at 18%+ p.a. Three disruptive models—quick commerce (40%+ CAGR), trend-first commerce ($8–10B fashion market by 2028), and hyper-value commerce (12–15% of GMV in 2024)—are reshaping India’s online shopping behavior, especially among Gen Z and in Tier-2+ cities.
JM Financial’s report ‘Data Centre 101’ points that India’s data centre (DC) capacity surged 38% YoY in 2024 to 1.35GW, yet it accounts for just 5.5% of global capacity despite generating 20% of global data. India is projected to reach 5GW by 2030, requiring $20B in DC capex and another $60B in cloud infra. With one of the world’s lowest capex/MW and operating costs, and growing subsea cable landings, India is poised to become a global DC hub, while colocation DC could reach $100B valuation by 2030.
EY & FICCI’s report on: ‘Indian Media & Entertainment industry’ values the sector at $29B, driven by an 8.1% surge in advertising, with digital at 55% of ad spend and 32% of industry revenue. 7% CAGR growth till 2027, with digital and online gaming making up 46% of revenue. AI and GenAI are rapidly transforming media, personalization, and monetization, while regional content, live events, and bundled subscriptions are fueling consumption across India’s 750M+ screens.
Centrum’s sector note on ‘Telecom sector’ projects the global telecom sector ($3T in 2024) to reach $4T by 2028, driven by 5G, AI, and IoT adoption. ARPU, stabilizing after decades of decline, is rising in markets like India due to tariff hikes and a shift from 2G to 4G/5G. India alone saw data usage grow from 1GB/month in 2014 to 24GB in 2025. Despite mature markets nearing saturation, India offer significant growth, driven by smartphone penetration, data demand, and digital infrastructure investments.
IMF’s latest report under the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP), highlights that India’s financial system has become more resilient and diverse, supported by strong economic growth and a robust response to the pandemic. The FSAP provides a comprehensive review of a country's financial sector, jointly conducted by the IMF and World Bank. Read more.
Grant Thornton’s report on ‘Equity risk premium’ estimates India’s ERP at 6.75%. From 2001–2024, Indian equities delivered a 15.2% p.a. return with a 7.6% excess over the risk-free rate, adjusted to 5.1% after accounting for valuation multiple expansion. The forward-looking model, based on Nifty 50’s expected cash flows, suggests a market return of 13.83% and an ERP of 7.04% over the 10-year risk-free rate (6.79%).
Articles
The Finance Bill 2025 introduces key changes to offshore fund management rules, simplifying compliance and making India more attractive for global fund managers. It removes the need to track indirect Indian ownership in offshore funds, focusing only on direct investments within the 5% threshold. This reduces regulatory burdens, encourages more offshore funds to operate from India, and is expected to boost the domestic fund management ecosystem. Read more.
Indian startups raised ~$2B in March 2025, vs $859M raised in the same period last year. This funding came through 82 rounds, mostly in early and late-stage deals, compared to 94 rounds and $796M in February 2025. Read more.
India is targeting a US$7–8T economy within five years, with its US$2.7T bond market playing a key role. The growing prominence of corporate bonds signals a shift toward debt-led financing. However, despite this momentum, India’s bond market still trails behind those of developed nations. Read more.
India’s quick-commerce sector is witnessing explosive growth, surpassing traditional e-commerce with delivery times under 30 minutes. Giants like Amazon and Flipkart are expanding into this space, offering everything from groceries to electronics and apparel. This rapid expansion is also fueling substantial job creation across the industry. Read more.
With tax indexation benefits no longer available, Inflation-Protected Securities (IPS) emerge as a dependable hedge. Given India’s limited use of IPS, there's significant room for growth to help investors secure stable real returns amid ongoing inflationary challenges. Read more.
The NSE’s newly launched NIFTY India Internet & E-Commerce Index aims to offer diversified exposure to online platform businesses, but critics argue that diversification may dilute returns. A liquidity-weighted approach has shown better performance, as top liquid stocks like Zomato, Swiggy, and Paytm—despite driving the sector—make up only 32% of the index. Read more.
KPIs
India's economy is projected to grow at 6.5% in FY 2025-26, with a focus on fiscal strategies that boost human capital through investments in education and healthcare and increasing social sector spending.
In its April meeting, RBI is expected to cut the repo rate by 25 bps to pivot from inflation control to supporting economic growth. Easing inflation, driven by lower food prices, has enabled RBI to focus on stimulating growth.
India’s current account deficit stood at $11.5B, or 1.1% of GDP, in Q3 of FY 2024-25—slightly higher than the $10.4B deficit recorded in Q3 FY23-24.
WEEKLY MARKET UPDATE (w/c March 24, 2025)
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