Indian Startups Surpass Rs 44,000 Cr in Public Market Funding in FY25, ETCFO
India’s venture-backed startups raised over Rs 44,000 crore ($5.3 billion) from public markets in FY25, greater than double the late-stage capital they secured from personal traders throughout the identical interval, in keeping with The Rainmaker Group’s RainGauge Index FY25 Annual Replace. The information factors to a decisive shift within the startup funding lifecycle with IPOs, FPOs and QIPs rising because the dominant channels for late-stage development capital. This marks the primary time that public market funding has so clearly outpaced personal capital for startups at scale.
The report additionally famous that over Rs 20,000 crore price of secondary exits have been realised by PE/VC corporations by means of block and bulk trades, together with traders reminiscent of Peak XV and TPG. Mutual fund possession in RainGauge Index firms rose from 10% in March 2024 to 14% in March 2025, underscoring rising institutional participation and liquidity depth within the listed startup ecosystem.
The RainGauge Index, which tracks the efficiency of 39 listed startups, ended FY25 with a 6.3% annual achieve, beating the Nifty 50, BSE Midcap and even matching the two-year trajectory of the Nasdaq 100. This got here regardless of a cyclical financial slowdown, actual GDP development falling to six.5% and FII outflows touching Rs 78,000 crore in Q1 FY25, the very best for the reason that COVID-era selloff. The report characterises FY25 as a yr of maturing for India’s public startup cohort, after a full cycle of euphoric IPOs (2021–22), sharp corrections (2023) and a reset in valuations (2024).
Founders now face tighter public-market self-discipline. Sector-specific guardrails are in place, with ahead valuation multiples settling at 58x EV/EBITDA for web platforms, 29x for B2B SaaS, 22x for shopper manufacturers and 3x P/B for BFSI gamers. Greater than half of RainGauge Index constituents ended the yr within the pink, with the divergence in efficiency now clearly attributable to fundamentals. Policybazaar and CarTrade have been high performers, delivering worthwhile development and inventory features of 93% and 133% respectively. In distinction, a number of consumer-facing corporations and fast commerce gamers remained in high-burn territory, with mounting scrutiny over margins and development high quality.
Amongst key developments, Zomato turned the primary venture-backed startup to be inducted into the Nifty 50 and Sensex, whereas Swiggy joined the Nifty Subsequent 50. Nykaa, PB Fintech, Ola Electrical, and others have been added to the Nifty MidCap150. A dozen different startups together with Meesho, Groww, City Firm, Wakefit and Pine Labs filed for IPOs in FY25, suggesting that the general public markets will stay a core a part of India’s venture-backed funding stack going ahead.
On the firm degree, Zomato reported a 59% rise in adjusted income and posted Rs 527 crore in FY25 PAT, however confronted compression in fast commerce margins. Swiggy widened losses to Rs 3,117 crore regardless of 117% income development within the phase. Policybazaar posted Rs 353 crore in PAT and doubled its Ebitda, whereas CarTrade turned in Rs 145 crore in revenue pushed by the combination of OLX India’s auto classifieds enterprise. FirstCry, which listed in August 2024, noticed a 43% rise in Ebitda at the same time as offline demand dipped, which its CEO described as a short-term blip. MakeMyTrip and EaseMyTrip each benefited from a surge in journey demand, with gross bookings hitting file highs and worldwide income share rising to 25%.
TRMG stated public markets are not simply an exit channel for late-stage startups however a self-discipline that’s reshaping how firms put together for scale. The agency additionally launched a companion index, RainGauge Non-public Pulse, to trace India’s subsequent $100 billion cohort of late-stage personal firms which can be gearing up for IPOs. “We’ve now seen the total arc, the IPO frenzy, the valuation winter and now a transparent re-rating pushed by fundamentals,” stated Kashyap Chanchani, managing associate at TRMG. “That is the age of seasoning. The market is not listening to tales, it’s pricing in substance.”
