India In Sight #99
Weekly updates on Indian private markets. Featuring 'India market outlook report' by Standard Chartered
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In the spirit of making Indian private markets more accessible and transparent to global LPs and GPs, we have launched ‘India In Sight’ – consolidating and curating relevant information and insights from Indian private markets including trends, key deals, fundraises, KPIs, and top tier research
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Key reports in this edition:
India market outlook report by Standard Chartered
India Investments Market Monitor Q1 2025 by CBRE
RBI’s Liquidity Support by Front Wave Research
Mutual Funds in April 2025 by Axis Bank
AI in Insurance by KPMG
KEY DEALS
Equity
ALT CARBON, a deeptech startup, raised c.$12 million in a seed funding round, from Lachy Groom, Shastra VC and other angel investors. (May 22, 2025)
InsuranceDekho, an insurance agency, acquired RenewBuy, an insurance and financial products consulting platform, through a share swap, valuing the combined entity at c.$870 million. (May 21, 2025)
CureBay, a tech-first hybrid healthcare platform, raised c.$21 million in a new funding round led by Bertelsmann India. Other investors include BII and Elevar Equity. (May 20, 2025)
CloudSEK, an AI-powered predictive cybersecurity platform, raised c.$19 million from India and US based investors including Tenacity Ventures, Commvault, Inflexor Ventures, MassMutual Ventures and Prana Ventures. (May 20, 2025)
Euler Motors, a commercial EV producer, raised c.$75 million in its Series D funding round led by Hero MotoCorp and BII. (May 19, 2025)
[Expected] Fleetx.io, a SaaS-based fleet and logistics management platform, to raise c.$12 million in its Series C round led by existing investors. (May 21, 2025)
Stable Money, a wealthtech startup, raised c.$20 million in a funding round led by The Fundamentum Partnership Fund. Other investors include Matrix Partners, RTP Global, and Lightspeed India. The funding is expected to give a 2x+ jump in valuation vs its earlier $15 million round in February. (May 23, 2025)
Credit
Ola Electric Mobility to raise c.$200 million in debt, in one or more tranches on a private placement basis or other methods. (May 22, 2025)
SBI to raise c.$3 billion via senior unsecured notes in FY2026. (May 21, 2025)
Ugro Capital, an NBFC, to raise c.$150 million through a combination of preferential allotment of compulsorily convertible debentures and rights issue. Samena Capital committed c.$60 million for the transaction. (May 21, 2025)
KEY FUNDS AND FUNDRAISES
Dvara KGF, an NBFC focused on remote rural regions, raised c.$10 million in debt funding from social impact investor BlueOrchard Microfinance Fund. (May 25, 2025)
ASK Property Fund, a real estate-focused fund of the Blackstone-backed ASK Group, marked the first close of its luxury housing projects focused fund at c.$60 million (target corpus of c.$120 million). (May 22, 2025)
Axis Asset Management marked the final close of its Axis Structured Credit fund at c.$87 million (vs its target hard cap of c.$150 million). (May 22, 2025)
360 ONE Asset launched a sector-agnostic venture capital fund with a target corpus of c.$60 million. (May 22, 2025)
Schema Ventures launched its maiden early stage fund with a target corpus of c.$20 million. (May 21, 2025)
247VC, an early-stage venture capital firm, launched its first India-focused fund with a target corpus of c.$30 million. (May 20, 2025)
MARKET INSIGHTS & RESEARCH
Reports
Standard Chartered’s ‘India market outlook report’ shares a bullish stance with the Nifty 50 hitting record highs, supported by strong FPI inflows of $5.6B in April and robust earnings momentum. GDP growth is projected at 6.7% in FY25, backed by resilient consumption and public capex. Sectors like financials, auto, and capital goods are expected to lead. Inflation remains under control at 4.9%.
CBRE’s ‘India Investments Market Monitor Q1 2025’ outlines India’s real estate investment inflows at $2.9B in Q1 2025, (up 74% YoY, 13% QoQ). Land / dev sites and built-up office assets saw ~74% of the inflows, with developers leading at ~46% share. Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Delhi NCR made up ~67% of the inflows, while ~52% of land deals were for residential projects. 70% inflows from domestic players.
Front Wave Research’s note on ‘RBI’s Liquidity Support’ shares that the markets are anticipating a record $35B dividend from the RBI, driven by forex trading gains, higher interest on FX reserves, and robust domestic income. The 10-year G-Sec yield has already dropped to 6.2%. Sectors likely to benefit include PSU banks, NBFCs, infra, and consumption as foreign capital is returning to Indian markets.
Axis Bank’s report on ‘Mutual Funds in April 2025’ highlights that India’s MF AUM reached $820B+ in April 2025, (up 6.5% vs March). Equity AUM grew 3.8%, driven by flexi-cap and small-cap funds, while debt funds rose 8.5%, with money market and ultra-short funds leading. Cash category surged 29.3%, mainly via liquid and overnight funds. ETFs saw 75% MoM jump in net sales, while passives grew modestly.
KPMG’s report on ‘AI in Insurance’ outlines how AI is reshaping the global insurance industry across three phases—Enable, Embed, and Evolve. 85%+ of insurance executives believe in AI’s competitive advantage, yet only 19% have a fully integrated AI strategy. Insurers report up to 20% ROI from AI investments, with opportunities in claims automation, predictive underwriting & customer personalization.
Articles
India has overtaken Japan to become the world’s fourth-largest economy with a GDP of $4T as per latest IMF data. India could become the third-largest economy within 3 years. Read more.
India’s bond market has remained stable amid global turmoil, with 10-year yields dropping to 6.2%, a 20-year low. This calm is driven by RBI’s rate cuts and $100B liquidity support, boosting corporate bond issuance. However, narrowing India-U.S. yield spreads have triggered $2.4B in foreign outflows, raising inflation concerns and the possibility of a more cautious RBI stance. Read more.
India holds a multibillion-dollar opportunity to become a regional hub for AI infra and services, with major players like AWS and Microsoft committing significant investments. Government support amid data center firms pushing for streamlined policies and single-window clearances is critical. Read more.
India's defense sector is undergoing a quiet but significant transformation, driven by the Atmanirbhar Bharat push for self-reliance. Defense production rose by 174% over the past decade with indigenous systems driving demand. R&D investment, robust supply chains, and global partnerships are key. Read more.
The government concluded its FY22–25 National Monetisation Pipeline with $68B—98% of its $70B crore target. The coal ministry exceeded expectations, while Indian Railways fell short by over 81%. NITI Aayog is now preparing a revamped $120B plan for FY25–30. Read more.
India's net FDI plunged 96.5% in FY25 to a record low, largely due to major fund repatriations as investors exited through high-return IPOs. Indian companies increased overseas investments to tap into global supply chain shifts. Despite the net drop, gross inward FDI rose by 13.7%. [Paywall] Read more.
KPIs
The central government’s fiscal deficit may shrink by 20–30 bps to 4.2% of GDP, thanks to a substantial dividend payout from the RBI. This unexpected windfall offers the government room to either curb the deficit or boost spending in priority sectors.
RBI expects the domestic economy to hold up well, even as trade- and tariff-related risks intensify. Worldwide expansion is losing momentum amid prolonged trade disputes, policy uncertainty and muted consumer demand.
The government has approved an 8.25% interest rate on Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) deposits for FY 2024-25, benefiting over 70M subscribers. The rate, unchanged from FY24, will be credited after finance ministry clearance. EPF remains a popular choice for salaried individuals due to its stable returns and tax benefits.
Below is a quick snapshot of the services sector performance from the latest RBI bulletin May 2025.
WEEKLY MARKET UPDATE (w/c May 19, 2025)
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