Private equity, venture capital India investments in 2016 mixed bag, KPMG

MUMBAI: The year 2016 turned out to be a mixed bag for India in term of private equity and venture capital investments. The volume and value of these investments in 2016 decreased by 25% and 39% respectively compared to the year before, said a KPMG India report.

This decline was expected as the flurry of investments in 2015 was shouldered by a high volume of startup deals during the year. In 2016, the political and economic turmoil in Europe, including Brexit, rising oil prices and increased risk premium for technology/internet sector investments affected the sentiments of foreign investors, who form the lion’s share of private equity investors in the country, the report added.

According to KPMG India, despite the expected decline in the e-commerce and technology sector-focused venture capital (VC) investments, private equity (PE) and venture capital investments fared better than most other year, the report said apart from 2016, which was an outlier driven by the technology startup and e-commerce funding boom.