Big-ticket deals in energy and infrastructure helped private investments hold their ground in February despite volatility in public markets, even as early-stage investments continued to lag. Private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) investments grew 14% in February to $1.96 billion worth of transactions across 38 deals. Sequentially, PE-VC deals amounted to $1.71 billion from 56 deals in the previous month of January. Early-stage startups, however, continued to feel the pinch, as total value of seed and series-A investments declined 56% from the same month last year, and deal counts almost halved. Nine seed-stage deals and four series-A investments of $7 million and $14 million, respectively, were recorded in February. Regulatory hurdles such as the angel tax and the overall investment climate among the angel investment community continues to impact seed and early-stage capital flow.