Private equity firms Warburg Pincus and Kedaara Capital, venture capital firm Blume Ventures, drugmaker Mankind Pharma and luggage maker Safari Industries are among the winners of the VCCircle Awards 2025.
Now in their fourteenth year, the annual awards felicitate PE and VC firms, their portfolio companies in key sectors as well as law firms and investment bankers.
The winners were awarded on Friday after the conclusion of the VCCircle Limited Partners Summit 2025, held at Taj Lands End in Mumbai.
The winners were chosen based on the recommendations of an eminent four-member jury comprising Gaurav Dalmia, chairman, Dalmia Group Holdings; TK Kurien, chief executive officer, PremjiInvest; Hemal Mirani, managing director, HarbourVest; and Srini Nagarajan, managing director and head of Asia, British International Investment.
There were a total of 15 categories and 23 subcategories on the basis of which the nominees were awarded.
For the portfolio companies, the jury evaluated the nominees on various parameters including revenue and profit growth and the return on capital employed.
Safari, which last year secured investment from Lighthouse, emerged as the winning consumer products company of the year. Lemon Tree Hotels was named the consumer services company of the year.
The jury spliced the financial services sector awards into two subcategories—lending and non-lending. Federal Bank, which counts International Finance Corporation as an investor, was named the financial services company of the year in the lending category. Health insurer Niva Bupa, which counts True North, Temasek and A91 Partners as its investors, was titled the financial services company of the year in the non-lending segment.
Hyderabad-based KIMS Hospitals, which was backed by ICICI Venture until August last year, was named winner in the segment of the health services company of the year. Mankind Pharma, which acquired Bharat Serums and Vaccines in the biggest pharma deal last year, bagged the title of the best health products company of the year. The jury also named TA Associates-backed Zifo RnD Solutions as the winner of the online healthcare company of the year.
Travel-tech company TBO Group, which debuted in the public market last year, and Craftsman Automation, which acquired private equity firm Kedaara Capital's stake in an auto components maker, won in their respective categories.
The awards also recognised top PE and VC firms based on fundraisers and exit of the year based on annualised return, or the internal rate of return (IRR) and multiple on invested capital (MOIC). The judges added another category for the most active investors this year.
The jury named early-stage investor Blume Ventures as the most active investor of the year in the venture capital category.
Mamaearth backer Stellaris Venture Partners, which topped the list of homegrown VC firms that hit the final close on a fund, was named the winner of the fundraiser of the year. On the private equity front, Kedaara Capital was unanimously picked by the jury for raising the largest sector-agnostic fund for investing in India.
With intense exit activity driven by a buoyant public market last year, many PE and VC firms sought opportunities to exit some of their portfolio companies post listing, giving many strong candidates to the jury. New York-headquartered Warburg Pincus, which bolstered its top deck this year in India, won titles in two, with the jury recognizing it for being the most active PE investor and for its exit from companies like jewellery chain Kalyan Jewellers.
On VC exits, Bessemer Venture Partners was awarded the winner of the year with notable selloffs including from health insurance third-party administrator Medi Assist Healthcare Services.
Moving on to the rainmakers, EY was named the investment bank (large) of the year in terms of both value and volume of deal activity.
Among emerging investment bankers, The RainMaker Group and Avener Capital were picked as winners of the investment bank of the year from the volume and value standpoint, respectively.
Khaitan and Co emerged as the large law firm of the year on both value and volume of deals. Pioneer Legal and Anagram Partners won the titles of emerging law firms of the year by volume and value, respectively.
Portfolio companies:
1. Consumer Products Company of the Year - Safari Industries
2. Consumer Services Company of the Year - Lemon Tree Hotels
3. Financial Services (Lending) Company of the Year - Federal Bank
4. Financial Services (Non-Lending) Company of the Year - Niva Bupa
5. Industrial Company of the Year - Craftsman
6. Tech Company of the Year (Internet Tech) - TBO Group
7. Health Services (Hospitals/Diagnostics) Company of the Year - KIMS Hospitals
8. Health Products (Pharma/Equipment) Company of the Year - Mankind Pharma
9. Healthcare Online Company of the Year - Zifo RnD Solutions
Investors, rainmakers, and law firms
10. Most Active Investor of the Year (VC) - Blume Ventures
11. Most Active Investor of the Year (PE) - Warburg Pincus
12. Fundraiser of the Year (VC) - Stellaris Ventures
13. Fundraiser of the Year (PE) - Kedaara Capital Growth Fund IV
14. Exit of the Year (PE) - Warburg Pincus - MedPlus Health Services
15. Exit of the Year (VC) - Bessemer Venture - Medi Assist Healthcare Services
16. Investment Bank of the Year by Deal Volume (Emerging) - The RainMaker Group
17. Investment Bank of the Year by Deal Value (Emerging) - Avener Capital
18. Investment Bank of the Year by Deal Volume (Large) - Ernst and Young
19. Investment Bank of the Year by Deal Value (Large) - Ernst and Young
20. Law Firm of the Year by Deal Volume (Emerging) - Pioneer Legal
21. Law Firm of the Year by Deal Value (Emerging) - Anagram Partners
22. Law Firm of the Year by Deal Volume (Large) - Khaitan and Co
23. Law Firm of the Year by Deal Value (Large) - Khaitan and Co
