Venture capital investors in India have executed $2.8 billion worth of secondary exits and M&A deals in the first four months of 2026, according to livemint.com, as they retreat from a subdued IPO market.

The shift began after the benchmark indices slipped 12 percent between January and April, prompting marquee funds such as Sequoia Capital, Accel and Elevation Capital to sell portions of their holdings to new investors or back to founders rather than pursue listings. Data compiled by Venture Intelligence cited by livemint.com shows 34 secondary transactions and 11 acquisitions closed between January and April, compared with just three small IPOs by venture-backed companies during the same period.

The pivot keeps liquidity flowing at a time when global funds are rationing fresh capital for Indian startups. Comparable exits include Tiger Global’s partial sale of its Zomato stake worth $300 million in March and SoftBank’s $250 million secondary in Meesho executed in February, both reported by livemint.com. Sector lawyers say the trend allows early investors to return capital to limited partners without waiting for public-market windows to reopen, while founders regain control ahead of potential down-rounds.

Fund managers expect the pattern to persist through the September quarter, with at least six more block deals covering fintech and SaaS names already in legal documentation, according to livemint.com. Watch for Elevation Capital’s scheduled exit from a payments unicorn by July and Accel’s planned partial sale in an enterprise software firm by August, both subject to board approvals now under review.

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