India's Capital Challenge and the Road Ahead: Vineet Rai's Call for Risk and Resilience India's journey ahead demands bold risk-taking, confident capital, and resilient innovation to transform its wealth into sustainable, inclusive global leadership.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
Uncertain times often test the world's economic confidence. The current era, marked by shifting geopolitics, climate challenges, and economic transitions, has left investors wary and entrepreneurs cautious. Against this backdrop, the question of how and where capital will move becomes central to defining the future, especially for a rapidly growing country like India.
At the recently held Entrepreneur 2025 event in New Delhi, Aavishkaar Group founder and Aavishkaar Capital MD Vineet Rai shared the insights on the theme "Investing in India @2025 – Capital, Confidence, and New Frontiers."
He began by addressing the prevailing uncertainty in the global economy, emphasising that while confidence has not disappeared, it has become more uncertain.
"Money normally finds secure places to park itself. But entrepreneurship is about risk, and risk capital must lead the way," said Rai.
Highlighting the transformation from a unipolar to a multipolar world, he pointed out the global capital flows, once dominated by the West, are likely to evolve.
"Strategies have to evolve and capital movement may change under the circumstances we live in," he noted, calling attention to the challenges emerging economies like India may face in attracting international funds.
Rai shared that the global capital pool is estimated at nearly USD 400 trillion, but the world still needs an annual investment of USD 2.5 trillion to achieve equality and sustainability. Of this, nearly 40 percent should ideally flow into India. "Capital must not only drive profits but also sustainability," he emphasised.
He underscored India's ambitious goal to become a developed nation by 2047 under the Viksit Bharat vision. To achieve this, he suggested, India must tap into its own financial reserves. "India today sits on nearly USD 20 trillion of wealth. The need is to unlock it with confidence and purpose," he remarked.
Rai also reflected on how India's startup ecosystem has evolved. "In 2001, finding and funding good entrepreneurs was an uphill battle. Failure was a constant companion," he recalled. But the landscape has changed dramatically. With over 1,550 domestic investment funds today, India has emerged as the world's third-largest startup ecosystem.
Yet, he cautioned that many of these funds remain under-capitalised or inactive, signaling a need for better management and sustainable growth strategies. Still, he viewed this proliferation of funds as a positive sign of maturing confidence in the Indian entrepreneurial spirit.
"India's strength lies not only in ideas but in its ability to believe, invest, and build for itself," concluded Rai, calling on investors and founders alike to back innovation that serves both national growth and global progress."
