New Delhi, July 7 -- As long-term private equity funding remains tight and public listings unpredictable, early backers of Indian startups are increasingly turning to a once-rare alternative: selling their stakes to specialized investors to exit.

The surge in such deals, called secondary portfolio sales, is driven by early-stage domestic funds nearing the end of their lifecycles. As they need to return money to limited partners or investors and raise new funds, it's pushing them to explore alternative exit routes.

This has drawn global secondaries specialists such as TR Capital, TPG NewQuest, Pantheon Ventures, Glendower (CVC), LGT Capital, and HarbourVest, which are actively scouting such deals in India, according to people familiar wi...