IVCA Forum 2025 highlights push to deepen India’s homegrown capital ecosystem

The Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association (IVCA) hosted the Domestic Institutional Investors (DII) and Exits Forum 2025 in New Delhi, bringing together leading domestic allocators, policymakers, fund managers and industry participants to strengthen India’s domestic capital framework.

A key highlight of the event was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between IVCA and BIRAC to deepen collaboration on capacity building, investment awareness and strengthening India’s science and technology innovation ecosystem.

During the forum, Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, described the recently announced Rs 1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund as “one of the most unique and forward looking initiatives taken by the government” to support high risk and high reward research in frontier technologies and catalyse a new era of partnership between the government, industry and investors.

“AIF commitments have grown 16 times since 2017, and domestic LPs which include domestic institutional investors and family offices now contribute 52.7 percent of capital in Category I and Category II funds. This shift reflects rising confidence in India’s private markets. As the ecosystem matures, deeper domestic participation will be central to financing India’s next decade of deep tech, innovation, infrastructure and long term economic growth,” said Rajat Tandon, President of IVCA.

The forum also saw the launch of a report by IVCA, 360 ONE Asset and CRISIL highlighting the expanding role of domestic institutions in shaping India’s next decade of growth. The study showed that commitments to AIFs have increased sharply from Rs 0.84 lakh crore in 2017 to Rs 13.49 lakh crore in 2025, reflecting both the sector’s depth and the maturity of India’s regulatory framework.

The report positions the coming decade as a turning point where India’s own institutions including pension funds, insurers, banks, family offices and resident investors can play a much larger role in financing the country’s innovation, infrastructure and economic leadership. With improving exits, better performance visibility and rising governance standards, India is positioned to build a truly homegrown capital ecosystem.

IVCA is a not for profit apex industry body promoting the alternate capital industry and fostering a vibrant investing ecosystem in India. The association supports the ecosystem through advocacy with the Government of India, policymakers and regulators. It represents more than 500 funds with a combined asset under management of over 350 billion dollars, investing across emerging companies, venture growth, buyout, special situations, distressed assets, credit and venture debt.