Private Equity and Venture Capital (PE-VC) firms invested $421 million in Tamil Nadu-based companies in the fourth quarter of 2025. This is down nearly 71% from $1,461 million invested in the third quarter of 2025, both across 14 deals each quarter. Despite the dip in Q4, the year 2025 saw a total of $3,513 million invested in 61 deals in Tamil Nadu, marking a 20% increase from $2,927 million in 57 deals in 2024. This data was shared by Venture Intelligence, which tracks private company financials and transactions. The data excludes PE investments in real estate. Angel investments were stable with 46 deals in both 2024 and 2025. Arun Natarajan, Founder and Managing Director of Venture Intelligence, said, "2025 mirrors 2024. The numbers are flat." Looking ahead, he added, "The stars seem to be aligning for a step up in DeepTech investing — including in AI/ML start-ups. The Government of India’s recently announced ₹1 lakh crore Research Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund has the potential to be a key catalyst on this front." He also mentioned that Tamil Nadu's many DeepTech firms will benefit greatly. Additional data from YNOS Venture Engine and The Centre for Research on Start-ups at IIT-Madras shows that about 1,657 start-ups from Tamil Nadu got DPIIT recognition in 2025. Of these, 973 start-ups were newly incorporated the same year. Thillai Rajan A, Head of CREST at IIT-Madras, noted, "The landscape is changing in Tamil Nadu; in 2024 AI/ML was not in the top five, but now in 2025, it has come in the top five. Entrepreneurs are forming start-ups that are the need of the day." At the national level, PE-VC firms invested around $33 billion across 1,164 deals in 2025. This amount is almost the same as the investments made in 2024, which saw 1,263 deals.