The company said it has deployed Rs 614 crore across 28 AI startups and Rs 455 crore across 30 deeptech companies through its balance sheet, Redstart Labs, Capital 2B and Info Edge Ventures funds. Some companies are counted across both categories, and therefore, the numbers are to be read theme-wise.
As of March 31, Info Edge’s AI portfolio was valued at Rs 1,268 crore, implying a 2.1 times multiple on invested capital and about 31% gross internal rate of return. Its deeptech portfolio was valued at Rs 559 crore, or 1.2 times invested capital, with about 15% gross internal rate of return (IRR).
The company said many of these investments were made before the global AI investment wave, giving it early entry points. Its AI portfolio includes startups such as Gnani.ai, Aftershoot, Attentive AI, Lumiq and Osfin. The deeptech portfolio spans robotics, semiconductors, biotech, spacetech, electric mobility, defence and hardware, with companies such as Unbox Robotics, ePlane, Manastu Space, Bharat Semi, Brainsight AI and String Bio.
Info Edge said the deeptech portfolio is younger in maturity as it largely backed companies at the intellectual property creation and research and development stage, in some cases at technology readiness level 3 or earlier. It said Unbox Robotics holds the largest position in its deeptech portfolio and described it as a profitable swarm-robotics business for warehouse automation.
Several of its portfolio companies have also received support under government programmes. Voice AI startup Gnani.ai was selected under the IndiaAI Mission and received Rs 177 crore worth of graphics processing unit (GPU) compute credits, while ePlane and Manastu Space secured allocations under the government’s Research, Development and Innovation scheme. ePlane received Rs 285 crore, the single-largest allocation nationally among 22 approved proposals, while Manastu Space received Rs 115 crore. These allocations are subject to the companies raising matching capital from investors.
Of the 28 AI companies in the portfolio, 15 have raised follow-on funding from external investors. In deeptech, 13 of the 30 companies have raised external rounds from institutional investors and sovereign programmes.
Info Edge, however, cautioned that the portfolio values are intermediate markups based on fair market value and follow-on funding rounds, and that the real test would come through exits or public listings. The company said early-stage investing needs seven to ten years for positive results to emerge and that several companies still carry early-stage mortality risk despite valuation markups.
Consumer technology continues to be the largest part of Info Edge’s startup portfolio. The company has invested Rs 2,755 crore across 45 consumer-tech and consumer-AI startups, now valued at Rs 37,214 crore, or 13.5 times invested capital. This portfolio includes Eternal, which houses Zomato and Blinkit, and PB Fintech, the parent of Policybazaar.
Overall, Info Edge and the alternative investment funds it manages have invested about Rs 4,900 crore across 135 startups, with the portfolio valued at about Rs 41,300 crore as of March 31. Of this, about Rs 3,600 crore has been invested by Info Edge and its group companies, while Rs 1,300 crore has come from external limited partners in the alternative investment funds it manages.
Info Edge said future value creation will be driven mainly by AI, deeptech and consumer technology, with AI expected to reshape both startups and established internet businesses, including its own operating business Naukri, where it is being used for search, matching, recruiter productivity and candidate engagement.