IIT Madras, IIT Madras Research Park and Unicorn India Ventures have announced the first close of their ₹1,000 crore deep-tech fund at ₹450 crore.
The first close came three months after receiving approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). The final close is expected by December 2026.
The announcement was made in the presence of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Kamakoti Veezhinathan, director, IIT Madras, said the institute had built an ecosystem that had nurtured several deep-tech companies which had consistently demonstrated growth in technology readiness levels (TRLs).
“And with a joint fund with best in class deep tech investors Unicorn India, we are now confident that these companies will not only get access to patient capital but also strategic growth guidance as well,” said Veezhinathan.
“With Unicorn India’s capability and depth, we have reached the first close in record three months, which is a feat and we are confident that as we build a high potential portfolio with this fund, we will give India some of the best deep tech startups as we have done in the past,” he added.
The fund also announced the deployment of nearly ₹55 crore across four deep-tech startups.
Among them is Hathor, a Chennai-based spacetech startup building specialised semi-cryogenic and cryogenic rocket engines for small- and medium-satellite launch vehicle companies.
Delhi-based Quanstra is developing single-photon detection systems and advanced quantum instrumentation for research and emerging industrial quantum applications.
Triolt Energy is developing high-performance lithium-ion battery cells optimised for drones and fast-charging electric mobility applications.
Carbelim is developing bio-integrated carbon capture and air-purification systems using proprietary microalgae technology.
The fund will focus on six verticals where India has a structural “right to win” globally.
These include defence technology, with an emphasis on import substitution, and space technology, including space-qualified hardware at one-tenth of the global cost.
Another focus area is semiconductors, particularly fabless design and intellectual property ownership.
The fund will also invest in manufacturing technology, robotics and automation.
It will focus on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and generative AI, with an emphasis on sovereign enterprise AI.
The sixth area is health technology, aimed at providing healthcare to the bottom of the pyramid.
Every investment will be screened for global export potential, strategic import substitution and sovereign technological advantage before capital is committed.
Bhaskar Majumdar, managing partner, Unicorn India Ventures, said India was entering a defining decade for deep-tech startups and moving from promise to scale.
“As investors, it’s an honour for us to partner with IITM and IIT Madras Research Park, which have been the backbone of deep tech innovation in India,” said Majumdar.
“Through our partnership with IIT Madras, we aim to provide early founders the capital and strategic support required to scale and build globally competitive companies from India. With the ₹450 crore first close and our four investments already made, we intend to continue building a portfolio of high-potential deep-tech ventures that can create significant technological and economic value.”
Natarajan Malupillai, group chief executive officer, IIT Madras Research Park, Incubation Cell and RTBI, said India had the scientific and engineering talent to build world-class technologies.
He said IIT Madras Research Park and the Incubation Cell had pioneered translational research and innovation for large companies and nurtured deep-tech startups.
“As the entrepreneurial ambition grows, we see a need to support them with right-sized, patient capital. The IITM Unicorn Frontier Fund-I brings long-term capital into the IIT Madras innovation ecosystem, helping scale-up of IP-led, globally competitive companies from India,” said Malupillai.
“Beyond individual startups, our ambition is to strengthen India’s technology capabilities, build greater self-reliance in critical sectors and position India as a source of frontier technologies for the world.”
With the first close reached, the fund will continue investing in intellectual property-led, engineering-heavy deep-tech startups, with the aim of building a portfolio of 25 companies.
The fund is backed by leading IIT Madras alumni and prominent family offices and is targeting a final close by the end of this year, when institutional investors and banks are expected to join in.
Unicorn India Ventures, as the fund manager, will also leverage its ability to mobilise capital beyond the primary fund corpus and build a co-investment engine to ensure portfolio companies have access to follow-on capital.
