Roshan Abraham

Airport operations technology company Blunav, blockchain infrastructure startup Antier, fintech startup MochaTrade, and toy brand Gubbachhi have secured funding in various early-stage rounds. 

Meanwhile, Chiratae Ventures announced it has selected a few deeptech startups in which it has committed to invest.

Blunav

Blunav has raised $1 million (Rs 9.4 crore) in seed funding from Piper Serica as it builds a full-stack cloud-based airport operating system.

The platform brings every airport function - flight operations, gate and bay allocations, passenger systems, commercial activities - into a single connected platform.

The startup said it will focus on scaling its platform across multiple airport environments over the next 12–24 months. The capital will support team expansion, continued product development, and the scale-up of deployments across India and international markets.

Blunav was founded by aeronautical engineer Suseendar Marimuthu and telecom engineer Cherukuru Sridharan.

Antier Solutions 

Antier Solutions Pvt Ltd has raised $3 million in its first institutional capital raise from GVFL, marking the venture capital firm's strategic investment in enterprise blockchain infrastructure.

Founded by Vikram Singh, Antier Solutions is an enterprise blockchain engineering firm focussed on building infrastructure for secure transactions, verifiable workflows, and institutional-grade applications. 

Headquartered in Mohali, the company operates with a team of over 600 specialists and has delivered over 1,000 projects across enterprises, startups, and government institutions globally.

The capital will help scale Antier’s platform offerings, expand deployments across government and BFSI sectors, and strengthen its presence in key international markets, including the US, the Middle East and North Africa, and Asia-Pacific, a statement read.

EduBlock Pro, its flagship platform, is a blockchain-based examination management system that enables tamper-proof processes and auditability, deployed in government recruitment exams.

MochaTrade

Global trading platform MochaTrade has raised an undisclosed amount in pre-seed funding from YCombinator to bring round-the-clock US stock, commodity, and crypto perpetuals to eligible traders worldwide

The startup raised its pre-seed round from Y Combinator and Pioneer Fund as part of Y Combinator’s Spring 2026 batch.

MochaTrade was founded by Utkarsh Sinha, Chetan Manda and Parth Maheshwari. It offers perpetual futures on US stocks, indices and commodities to eligible users, with markets designed to operate continuously and settle in real time.

The startup said it will use the capital to build its core perpetuals trading engine and risk infrastructure, and complete the regulatory and compliance groundwork required for launch in select jurisdictions. A portion of the fundraise will also support go-to-market efforts among active retail traders.

Gubbachhi 

Gubbachhi, a Bengaluru-based children's toy brand, has raised Rs 1.5 crore as part of its pre-seed round, led by existing investor D2C Insider Super Angels. The round also saw participation from a few individual angels and operators.

Founded by the husband-wife duo Abhijith Shetty and Pallavi Shetty, Gubbachhi is an "India-inspired" toy brand. The capital will fund team expansion, product development, expansion of retail channels, and stronger marketing and community efforts. 

Chiratae Ventures

Chiratae Ventures said it will invest in startups from its latest Sonic DeepTech batch following the programme’s Demo Day hosted in Bengaluru on Wednesday. The VC firm said the programme received thousands of applications.

Chiratae selected a focussed cohort of "high conviction" startups from a “competitive pool of applicants" and committed up to $10 million in investments. These selected companies are Ctrl B, Interact AI, SuprSend, TakeMe2Space and a stealth startup. 

The selected startups will also benefit from resources offered through the NVIDIA Inception programme, which is designed to help startups accelerate technical innovation and business growth across all stages, Chiratae said in a statement.

Airport operations technology company Blunav, blockchain infrastructure startup Antier, fintech startup MochaTrade, and ......

Blunav, Antier, others raise funding; Chiratae Ventures backs deeptech startups

Medtech company MedVital, fabless semiconductor startup BigEndian, AI infrastructure startup Vobiz.ai, job-search platform JobsUPI, and financial services startup PinSec.AI have secured funding in separate early-stage rounds, the companies said. 

MedVital

MedVital has raised Rs 18 crore ($1.9 million) in a growth funding round led by Alkemi Growth Capital as it scales its presence across hospitals in India. The round saw participation from Sanjay Arora, Shubhan Ventures, and existing investors. The latest round follows the startup’s previous funding, which was led by 4point0 Health Ventures. 

The medtech firm focuses on skin repair and regeneration. It said the capital raised will support expansion, accelerate product development, build proprietary capabilities across devices, biomaterials, and biologics, and strengthen supply chain efficiency and unit economics.

Founded in 2024, MedVital operates in advanced wound care through its NoWound portfolio, which includes Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) and a chitosan-based liquid bandage designed for hospital settings. The company develops medical technologies spanning devices, biomaterials, and integrated care protocols. It claims to have established early clinical traction with adoption across over 200 corporate and public healthcare institutions.

BigEndian

Early-stage investment platform IAN Group has led a $6 million funding round in BigEndian Semiconductors through its IAN Alpha Fund.

IAN Group invested in the startup along with Vertex Ventures SEA, IvyCap Ventures, and other angel investors.

BigEndian will deploy the capital across chip design, team expansion, and tapeout cycles, a significant capital-intensive and critical stages in semiconductor development. 

The company is also building cross-border partnerships, particularly in Taiwan, to bridge design and manufacturing.

Founded in 2024, BigEndian is developing System-on-Chips (SoCs) focused on AI Vision applications that enable machines to process and interpret visual data instantly. These are critical for applications such as smart surveillance, autonomous systems, industrial automation, and connected devices.

Vobiz.ai

Vobiz.ai, a telephony infrastructure platform for voice-based AI products, has raised $1 million in a seed funding round led by Piper Serica VC Fund to strengthen its engineering and go-to-market capabilities. The company aims to achieve an annual recurring revenue (ARR) of $5 million.

Founded by Suman Gandham and Vikash Srivastava, Vobiz offers instant Direct Inward Dialing (DID) provisioning, low-latency SIP trunking, real-time streaming, noise cancellation, and compliance automation, enabling developers to integrate voice AI in minutes.

JobsUPI

JobsUPI closed its pre-seed round of $250,000 with investments from IIMA Ventures and prominent angel investors such as PolicyBazaar co-founder Alok Bansal, Magicpin founder Anshoo Sharma, Taggd executive Amit Jain, and Hecttor.ai cofounder Manoj Sinsinwar, among others.

The platform, which is currently live, will focus its expansion efforts in North India, and seeks to expand to additional regions in the coming months. The funding will also support product capabilities and scale distribution, in addition to expanding into new geographies.

Founded by Shrey Bansal, JobsUPI is building a “quick commerce for jobs” model, aiming to enable hiring in as little as 30 minutes. The multilingual, multimodal voice AI-powered employment platform is built on an open network architecture, designed to improve access to employment opportunities for blue-collar and skilled workers across India. 

PinSec.AI

PinSec.AI, the AI-native financial services arm of the FPL Group of Companies, secured Rs 5 crore in funding from a group of high-net-worth individuals as part of its seed round. 

PinSec.AI, founded by CEO Sai Krishna Sekar, is raising more capital in an ongoing funding round. The proceeds from this round will fund four strategic priorities: strengthening the proprietary technology infrastructure, meeting regulatory licensing and compliance capital requirements, acquiring senior talent across research and wealth advisory functions, and funding the regional rollout across South India's financial hubs.

The company is an AI-native quantitative fund and financial services platform serving wealth management firms. Launched in 2024 and backed by the FPL Group of Companies, PinSec operates PinSec.ai, a fully proprietary AI-powered trading and investment engine. The company is also rolling out an advisory platform serving HNI and institutional clients.

Aurm

Aurm, a Bengaluru-based startup offering bank locker infrastructure for urban residents, banks and corporate campuses, has secured Rs 42 crore in a Series A round from the sustainability-focused VC platform Earth Fund,  along with Sattva Ventures and other angel investors. 

Aurm, led by Vijay Arisetty, was founded in 2023. This investment will support Aurm in scaling its tech-enabled vaulting solutions and developing secure storage through automation and enhanced accessibility, the startup said.

Medtech company MedVital, AI infrastructure startup Vobiz.ai, job-search platform JobsUPI, and financial services ......

MedVital, BigEndian, Vobiz.ai, JobsUPI, PinSec bag early-stage funding

Debjyoti Roy

Prithvi Durai

Tata Capital Healthcare Fund, the healthcare and life sciences-focused private equity arm of Tata Capital Ltd, is looking to exit another portfolio company even as it evaluates new investment opportunities and reaches out to potential limited partners to raise its third fund, VCCircle has gathered.

The PE firm, which marked the first close of the Tata Capital Healthcare Fund III in February, is seeking to sell its stake in Chennai-based Anderson Diagnostic Services Pvt. Ltd, a person familiar with the matter said.

The development comes after VCCircle reported last month that the PE firm had initiated a process to log out of Atulaya Healthcare Pvt Ltd, a Chandigarh-based diagnostics company. It is separately in talks to invest in another diagnostics company from its third fund, VCCircle reported earlier this week.

Both Anderson Diagnostic and Atulaya Healthcare are part of the portfolio of Tata Capital Healthcare Fund II. The firm’s plans to check out of the two companies is in line with the industry practice where PE investors typically seek to showcase exits to potential LPs while raising new funds.

Tata Capital Healthcare aims to raise Rs 2,500-2,600 crore for its third fund. Its second fund hit its final close in 2022 after raising Rs 955 crore. This fund invested in a total of 10 companies and hasn’t yet exited any of those. The fund’s portfolio also includes Linux Laboratories, Deeptek Inc, Sakar Healthcare Ltd, medical devices maker Harsoria, Mumbai Oncocare Centre, Apex Kidney Care, and Noble Plus Pharmacy. The PE firm’s first fund closed in 2012 with Rs 411 crore. It invested in nine companies and has exited at least six of those, according to its website.

Anderson Diagnostic

Tata Capital Healthcare Fund II invested about Rs 55 crore ($7 million then) in Anderson Diagnostic in June 2022, valuing the company around Rs 375 crore.

Anderson Diagnostic, founded in 2008, has around 70 collection centres across Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana. It is led by managing director Anand Krishnamoorthy, and directors Srinivasaraman Govindarajan and Suriyakumar Govindarajulu. The trio owns a substantial majority stake in the company.

The person cited above said that while the PE firm is looking to exit, Anderson is also seeking to raise fresh capital. The total size of the planned round is likely to be around Rs 250-300 crore. The primary infusion into Anderson could be as much as Rs 180-190 crore, the person said.

Investment banking firm Veda Corporate Advisors is working on the planned transaction.

Tata Capital Healthcare, Veda and Anderson Diagnostic did not reply to queries sent by VCCircle.

The diagnostics company posted revenue from operations of Rs 203.28 crore in FY25. This is up 31% from the year before and 42% from FY22, the year before Tata Capital Healthcare invested. The company’s earnings before interest, depreciation, tax and amortisation doubled to Rs 23.6 crore in FY25 but was lower than the Rs 42.3 crore EBITDA recorded in FY22, according to VCCEdge.

Tata Capital Healthcare Fund, the healthcare and life sciences-focused private equity arm of Tata Capital Ltd, is ......

Tata Capital Healthcare Fund plots exit from another portfolio firm

Healthcare

Malvika Maloo

Private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) deal value recovered sharply this week, even as activity cooled. Meanwhile, Sun Pharmaceutical's multi-billion-dollar acquisition of US-based Organon boosted overall merger and acquisition (M&A) activity, data collated by VCCircle showed. 

The number of deals in the five-day period ending May 1 slipped to 22 from 23 a week earlier, the data showed. However, the cumulative amount raised by companies in PE-VC deals more than quintupled to $420 million (Rs 3,984 crore) after falling to its lowest level this year a week ago.

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Several large transactions drove the surge in deal value, with jewellery, financial services, and technology platforms leading the activity. 

Dholakia Lab Grown Diamond Pvt Ltd, the lab-grown diamond jewellery arm of Hari Krishna Group, stood out this week, securing $84 million in funding led by Abakkus Private Equity.

Axis Finance Ltd raised $79.6 million from homegrown PE firm Kedaara Capital, valuing the non-bank lender arm of Axis Bank at around $1.57 billion. 

Further down the list, home services app Snabbit snagged $56 million in a round backed by Susquehanna Venture Capital, Mirae Asset Venture Investments’ Unicorn Growth Fund, and Bertelsmann India Investments.

Other significant transactions in the $20-40 million range included franchise operator Trimex Foods Pvt Ltd's fundraise from Siguler Guff & Company; broking platform Sahi's round led by Accel; real estate developer Vibrancy Real Estates Pvt Ltd’s private equity funding from Bain Capital; energy company Kimbal’s fundraise from GEF Capital Partners; and mobile gaming company Metasports Interactive’s round led by growth investor Metica.

On the M&A front, deal activity jumped to 13 transactions from seven last week, VCCircle’s data showed.

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Pharmaceuticals dominated dealmaking, led by a big transaction. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries’ $11.75 billion acquisition of US-based drugmaker Organon & Co was the largest overseas buy by an Indian pharma company this week. 

Other notable deals included Tech Mahindra's $20.6 million acquisition of Canadian rail payments firm Avant; Bharat Forge's purchase of a 30% stake in Fortuna Engineering; and fintech firm Pine Labs' acquisition of Tiger Global-backed Shopflo. 

IIFL Finance, Dr Lal PathLabs, JSW One, and Zydus Lifesciences were also active on the dealmaking front. 

Private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) deal value recovered sharply this week, even as activity cooled. Meanwhile......

Deals Digest: PE-VC deal value recovers; Sun Pharma\'s Organon buy boosts M&As

Finance

Insights Focus

As fintech lenders evolve beyond single-product models, Kissht’s IPO journey is also reflecting a broader transition in its business strategy. The company’s founders, Ranvir Singh and Krishnan Vishwanathan, have invested approximately ₹40 crore at ₹201 per share, signalling continued commitment even as the business expands into new segments.

While Kissht initially built its presence in consumer lending, recent years have seen the platform expand into adjacent credit products, including offerings such as loan against property. This diversification reflects a shift towards building a more comprehensive credit ecosystem rather than a single-category play.

The evolution is also visible in its operating metrics. The company has scaled its AUM to nearly ₹6,000 crore, supported by a growing and maturing customer base. Alongside, improvements in profitability and operating metrics suggest a business that is not only expanding in scale but also evolving in structure.

Industry observers note that fintech models that successfully transition into multi-product platforms tend to improve both customer lifetime value and portfolio stability over time. In that context, Kissht’s expansion into secured and semi-secured segments could mark an important phase in its growth journey.

Founder participation at a premium to the IPO band adds another layer to this narrative. It suggests alignment not just with current performance, but with the direction in which the business is evolving.

As public market investors evaluate fintech IPOs through the lens of sustainability and diversification, such shifts in business model, combined with promoter conviction, may become key differentiators.

NOTE: No TechCircle Journalist was involved in the creation/production of this content.

As fintech lenders evolve beyond single-product models, Kissht’s IPO journey is also reflecting a broader transition ......

Founders invest Rs 40 crore in Kissht at a premium days before IPO

TTK Healthcare Ltd, which sold its human pharmaceutical division to an Advent International-backed company four years ago, has put another division up for sale, according to two people close to the development.

Chennai-based TTK Healthcare, part of the nearly century-old diversified business conglomerate TT Krishnamachari Group, has put its consumer products division up for sale, according to the two people.

Its consumer products division, which is its biggest business vertical by revenue and pre-tax profit, offers products in four categories: baby care, which includes one of its earlier products Woodward’s Gripe Water; personal care brand Eva for teenagers; home care products under Good Home; and sexual wellness products under the brand Skore. The brands have a distribution network of over 2,800 distributors and more than 650 sales personnel who network with over 400,000 retailers. 

According to one of persons cited above, the firm is seeking a valuation of approximately Rs 950-1,000 crore (around $100-105 million) for this division. The person added that Zydus Wellness, Wipro Consumer and Mankind Pharma have expressed interest so far, but negotiations are ongoing on the valuations.

The person also said that the company had demanded a 3x multiple on the division's projected FY26 revenue of around Rs 320 crore. However, the division is likely to end FY26 with revenue of around Rs 250 crore, if it sustains the trend recorded in April-December 2025-26. That would mean an estimated valuation of about Rs 750 crore.

A stock-exchange filing shows that in April-December FY26, the division posted Rs 187.3 crore in revenue and Rs 13 crore in pre-tax profit, or nearly 3% and 37%, respectively, lower than the numbers posted over the same period in FY25. For the full FY25, the consumer products division's revenue grew 5% to Rs 244.9 crore. 

TTK Healthcare posted a 6.5% growth in revenue in FY25 to Rs 801.5 crore. For the nine-month period of FY26, the company recorded revenue of about Rs 639 crore.

While businesses from Good Home and Skore grew 15% and 12% respectively in FY25, Woodward's Gripe’s revenues fell, with the company acknowledging it was a challenging year for the baby care brand.

Revenue from the consumer division in the past few years have been rangebound around Rs 200-250 crore. The division was profitable in FY25 at around Rs 23.45 crore before interest and tax. However, it constituted more than a quarter of the firm’s liabilities of Rs 216 crore in the fiscal year. 

Queries sent by VCCircle to TTK Healthcare, Zydus Wellness, Wipro Consumer and Mankind Pharma did not elicit any response till the time of publishing this article. 

TTK Healthcare outsources most of its manufacturing, barring food products, and medical and protective devices divisions. TT Krishnamachari & Co, a partnership firm within the group where the founder’s grandsons TT Jagannathan and TT Raghunathan are partners, holds a 67.46% stake in TTK Healthcare. Sunil Singhania-led Abakkus Asset Manager holds 1.13%, while UK-based Jupiter Asset Management holds 1.52%.

In 2022, TTK Healthcare sold its human pharmaceutical division to Bharat Serums and Vaccines, a portfolio firm of global private equity firm Advent International, for Rs 805 crore. 

TTK Healthcare Ltd, which sold its human pharmaceutical division to an Advent International-backed company four years ......

TTK Healthcare puts another division on the block, draws interest from local firms

Consumer

Aman Rawat

Dholakia Lab Grown Diamond Pvt Ltd (DLGD), the lab-grown diamond jewellery arm of the Hari Krishna Group, has raised over Rs 800 crore ($84 million) in a funding round led by Abakkus Private Equity, with participation from ICICI Venture, Amal Parikh and other undisclosed investors. 

The company said it will use the proceeds to scale production, expand its retail footprint across India and strengthen working capital. It also plans to advance capabilities in precision single-crystal diamonds for applications across optical, quantum and thermal technologies, including use cases in defence and semiconductor sectors.

Hasu Dholakiya, chief executive officer of Dholakia Lab Grown Diamond, said the funding reflects growing global acceptance of lab-grown diamonds. “This investment is a strong vote of confidence in our model and reflects the world's growing confidence in lab-grown diamonds. Global retailers and luxury brands are increasing their lab-grown commitments, and we intend to be the manufacturing and design partner of choice,” he said.

DLGD, founded by Savji Dholakia, Ghanshyam Dholakia, Himmat Dholakia and Tulsi Dholakia, operates a vertically integrated model spanning diamond growing, cutting and polishing, jewellery manufacturing and global retail distribution. The company serves more than 100 retailers and brands in over 25 countries.

Ankit Aggarwal, fund manager for private equity at Abakkus Asset Manager Pvt Ltd, said demand for lab-grown diamonds is rising, particularly among younger consumers. “Consumer attitudes toward lab-grown diamonds have reached a tipping point, with younger buyers choosing them as a preference for quality, ethics, and value,” he said.

“DLGD is well-positioned at the centre of this shift, with the production capabilities and global retail relationships to capture it at scale, as demand for sustainable luxury continues to grow,” Aggarwal added.

UBS acted as the exclusive advisor on the transaction. 

Investor interest in India’s lab-grown diamond sector has picked up in recent months, with multiple deals across stages. Bengaluru-based Aukera raised $15 million in a round led by Peak XV Partners, while early-stage brands such as True Diamond and Firefly Diamonds have also secured funding to scale retail expansion and omnichannel presence.

More recently, startups like Ethera and Réia Diamonds have attracted capital to build out physical stores and supply chains, while Limelight Lab Grown Diamonds raised about Rs 90 crore to expand vertically and scale its retail footprint. 

Dholakia Lab Grown Diamond Pvt Ltd (DLGD), the lab-grown diamond jewellery arm of the Hari Krishna Group, has raised ......

Abakkus PE leads over $84-mn round in Dholakia Lab Grown Diamond

Cohance Lifesciences Ltd, the Advent International-backed contract development and manufacturing  platform, has hired former Cipla chief as the new executive chairman and Group CEO.

The Mumbai-listed CDMO has roped it Umang Vohra "as a deliberate, strategic decision" to "lead the company's transformation and next phase of growth", according to an exchange filing from Cohance. 

Vohra will takeover as the executive chairman, effective May 1, 2026 and group CEO effective May 20, 2026.

The CDMO's former chief Sharma is stepping down due to personal reasons, according to the exchange filing. He will serve as an advisor with the company for the next nine months and will support a "smooth" transition, the filing added.

On joining Cohance, Vohra said, "I believe deeply in the long-term value creation potential of this platform. Cohance’s technology offerings, depth of its R&D talent, and the quality of the leadership team already in place provide a strong foundation.

He joins the company after helming Cipla as its CEO and Managing Director since 2016. Now Vohra has been succeeded at the pharma major by Group COO Achin Gupta. 

At Cipla, Vohra was responsible for the strategic growth, financial performance, innovation and operational excellence. Under Vohra, Cipla advanced its digital and manufacturing capabilities, and invested in next generation therapies. 

Overall, Vohra's experience in the pharmaceutical space exceeds three decades.

Prior to Cipla, he worked at Dr. Reddy's Laboratories for nearly 14 years, where he last served as the EVP and head of North America generics and corporate. He donned many hats at Dr. Reddy's, including as the CFO, and played a key role in strategic planning and business development.

Vohra holds a management degree from TA Pai Management Institute and kicked off his career as a finance manager in companies such as Eicher Ltd and Pepsico India.

Cohance Lifesciences Ltd, the Advent International-backed contract development and manufacturing  platform, has hired ......

Advent-backed Cohance names former Cipla chief as chairman and CEO

People

Bengaluru-based Capital A, a venture capital firm led by Ankit Kedia, who was previously the promoter and director at plastic packaging solutions Manjushree Technopack Ltd, has marked the first close of second fund that it launched in 2024. 

The VC, which makes early-stage investments, was targeting to raise a corpus of Rs 400 crore (around $42.5 million) for the vehicle. This included a greenshoe option of Rs 100 crore. 

The firm has received 50% of the commitments, Kedia told VCCircle in two separate interactions. The vehicle has been largely backed by domestic investors, including family offices, high net worth individuals and corporate leaders.

Investors in the fund include Chamaria Group, Steel House Family Office, Avyay Jhunjhunwala, MP Family Office (Dubai), Siddharth Bafna of Lodha & Co., Srikar Reddy, Sekhar Boddu, the family office of Sri Vijayalakshmi Agarbathi Works, Manjushree Ventures Family Office and Deven Bhandari of BU Bhandari Group. Institutional participation includes Anand Rathi Group. 

The new vehicle marked the firm’s first foray into raising capital from external limited partners (LPs) in India and abroad. Its predecessor and the debut vehicle launched in 2021 with a Rs 250 crore corpus, did not include any outside LPs. 

Kedia said the fund is in discussion with institutional LPs and is hoping for a final close in the next quarter. 

The latest fund is focusing on four themes: manufacturing, climate-tech, deeptech and fintech.

It has invested in seven companies including spacetech startup Manastu Space, aerospace deeptech firm Misochain Technologies, deep tech engineering company Quintrans and methane-to-hydrogen platform Enerzi among others, with three more deals in advanced stages. 

It is aiming to build a portfolio of about 15-20 seed to early-stage startups through the fund. The second fund is has a cheque size of $750,000 to $1 million (around Rs 7-9.4 crore), compared to $100,000-500,000 cheque size of the first fund. 

From the first fund, Capital A invested in 20 startups, including Chargeup, Oorja Energy, Cell Propulsion, Entuple, Jiraaf, Credit Fair, LeRemitt, Bharatsure, Bambrew Infinity Box, Matchlog, and Tan90.

“We are seeing a clear shift in how both founders and investors are approaching manufacturing and deep tech in India. These are businesses that require patience, strong execution and deep operating involvement. Having spent years building and scaling manufacturing businesses at Manjushree Technopack, our focus at Capital-A has been on partnering early with founders solving real industrial problems and working alongside them to build enduring companies,” said Kedia, founder and lead investor at Capital-A.

Bengaluru-based Capital A, a venture capital firm led by Ankit Kedia, who was previously the promoter and director at ......

Capital A hits first close of second fund, targets manufacturing bets

Manufacturing

TEAM VCC

Fintech lender Kissht has settled for a lower valuation to go public than what it had hoped for less than a year ago, and some late-stage investors, including retired sportsperson Sachin Tendulkar and venture debt firm Alteria Capital, will see the value of their investment go underwater as the company hits the market later this week.

The lender, which focuses on micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises and is operated by OnEMI Technology Solutions Ltd, has set a price band of Rs 162-171 per share for its initial public offering (IPO). It has also significantly cut down the size of the issue and is now looking to raise Rs 850 crore ($90 million) via a fresh issue, as against Rs 1,000 crore when it initially filed documents with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

The offer-for-sale (OFS) component has been halved to 4.44 million shares. All key venture capital investors, including Vertex Ventures, Endiya Partners, and Ventureast, have also reduced the number of shares to be offloaded in the IPO.

Tendulkar was the most recent investor to join Kissht’s cap table. He invested about Rs 1.2 crore in early 2025, valuing the company at around Rs 2,650 crore (approximately $310 million then). This means the company would have expected a post-issue valuation of at least Rs 3,850 crore.

However, it is now looking at a post-issue market capitalization of under Rs 3,200 crore at the upper end of the price band. On a pre-issue basis, the company has shaved off its valuation expectations by at least 23%, according to VCCircle’s estimates.

Apart from Endiya and Ventureast, Brunei Investment Agency, the sovereign wealth fund of the Southeast Asian nation, is also participating in the OFS.

Other investors, including VC firm Sistema Asia Fund, venture debt firms Trifecta Capital and Alteria Capital, and Tendulkar, don’t plan to sell shares in the IPO.

Investors’ return estimates

Ventureast and Endiya entered Kissht’s cap table in 2016-17. Vertex and Sistema joined two years later, while Brunei Investment Agency first invested in 2022 when Kissht raised $80 million.

Ventureast and Endiya are likely to have invested about Rs 50 crore each via various entities. Ventureast, via four entities, owns a total of around 9% stake in the company, while Endiya and one of its affiliates together own 6.2%.

Vertex, via three entities, has invested a total of Rs 320 crore and owns nearly 23% stake, while the Brunei wealth fund has put in Rs 195 crore and holds a 12.13% stake. Kissht founders Ranvir Singh and Krishnan Vishwanathan together own around 32.3%, following a marginal increase after buying back a part of the stake held by the VCs last month for around Rs 26 crore.

These shares were bought back at Rs 201 apiece. The bulk of this money went to Endiya Partners’ affiliate.

Based on the upper end of the price band, Ventureast and Endiya’s remaining stake would be valued at around Rs 210 crore and Rs 139 crore, respectively. Vertex’s stake would be worth Rs 448 crore, and the Brunei fund’s stake would be valued at Rs 268 crore.

The Endiya entity that first invested in 2016 would churn out a multiple on invested capital (MOIC) of about 10x and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 35% in rupee terms, according to VCCircle’s estimates based on the first-in, first-out methodology. On a blended cost basis, this entity is sitting on a shade under 5x.

The second Endiya entity, which invested in 2022, scored a multiple of 1.6x and an IRR of around 13% in the partial exit last month. It would likely generate a single-digit IRR in the proposed OFS.

Three of Ventureast’s entities, which first invested in 2016, would also churn out a multiple of 11x and an IRR of 27% through the partial exit in the IPO. The fourth entity, which joined the cap table in 2018 and is the largest of the four entities, would score a 3x multiple and an IRR of around 14%, the estimates show.

The returns multiple for Vertex’s entities would vary between 1.4x and 2.3x, and the IRR would be between 15% and 20%. The Brunei wealth fund’s return multiple would be around 1.4x, with an IRR under 9%.

For perspective, private equity and venture capital firms typically chase an IRR of at least 20% in rupee terms at the fund level, though investors such as sovereign wealth funds and pension funds may have different benchmarks.

Alteria Capital and Tendulkar will be about a quarter below the value of their investments in the IPO.

Founded in 2015 by former McKinsey executives Ranvir Singh and Krishnan Viswanathan, Kissht offers personal loans with tenors of three to 36 months and ticket sizes between Rs 5,000 and Rs 5 lakh. As of December 31, Kissht had a loan book of Rs 5,956 crore.

The company’s net profit slipped to Rs 160.6 crore in FY25 from Rs 197.3 crore in the previous year. However, net profit rose in April-December 2025 and is pegged at Rs 199 crore. This means the company is aiming at a post-issue trailing price-to-earnings multiple of around 12x.

Fintech lender Kissht has settled for a lower valuation to go public than what it had hoped for less than a year ago, ......

How are VCs placed as SME-focussed fintech lender Kissht settles for a down round?

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Nitesh Kumar

Private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) deal activity remained largely flat this week after a brief rebound, while ......

Deals Digest: PE-VC activity steady; Rajasthan Royals deal lifts M&A value

Infrastructure

Private equity firm Blackstone’s industrial and logistics platform in India, an agrochemical company backed by the ......

Blackstone, Bain, IFC portfolio firms and Zepto get SEBI nod for IPOs

For a 60-year-old food brand deeply entrenched in its home market, Ahmedabad-based spice maker Ramdev Food Products Ltd ......

Searchlight: Spice maker Ramdev Food grows steadily, but needs pan-India push

Reuters

India's Swiggy on Friday reported a narrower fourth quarter loss, helped by continued growth at its core food ......

Swiggy's quarterly loss narrows on strong food delivery, Instamart growth

Asset managers Blackstone and BlackRock cut the value of their private credit funds in the first quarter, they said on ......

Blackstone, BlackRock cut value of their private credit funds

New York-headquartered private equity firm KKR and its co-investors–an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund and a US ......

Blunav, Antier, others raise funding; Chiratae Ventures backs deeptech startups

MedVital, BigEndian, Vobiz.ai, JobsUPI, PinSec bag early-stage funding

Tata Capital Healthcare Fund plots exit from another portfolio firm

Deals Digest: PE-VC deal value recovers; Sun Pharma's Organon buy boosts M&As

Founders invest Rs 40 crore in Kissht at a premium days before IPO

TTK Healthcare puts another division on the block, draws interest from local firms

Abakkus PE leads over $84-mn round in Dholakia Lab Grown Diamond

Advent-backed Cohance names former Cipla chief as chairman and CEO

Capital A hits first close of second fund, targets manufacturing bets

How are VCs placed as SME-focussed fintech lender Kissht settles for a down round?

Most Popular

Finance

Deals Digest: PE-VC activity steady; Rajasthan Royals deal lifts M&A value

Infrastructure

Blackstone, Bain, IFC portfolio firms and Zepto get SEBI nod for IPOs

Consumer

Searchlight: Spice maker Ramdev Food grows steadily, but needs pan-India push

Consumer

Swiggy's quarterly loss narrows on strong food delivery, Instamart growth

Finance

Blackstone, BlackRock cut value of their private credit funds

Finance

KKR set to boost harvest from Indian firm after pulling out over $100 mn

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