IIT-Madras, Unicorn India Ventures launch Rs 600-crore deep tech fund

New Delhi, Feb 6 (PTI) IIT Madras Research Park (IITMRP) and Unicorn India Ventures (UIV) on Friday announced the launch of a Rs 600-crore deep tech fund aimed at supporting early-stage startups in strategic sectors such as space tech, semiconductors, and defence tech.

The fund, named the "IITM Unicorn Frontier Fund I," also includes a greenshoe option of an additional Rs 400 crore, according to a statement.

The fund will focus on IP-led, engineering-heavy startups that align with national strategic interests.

It aims to invest in over 25 companies with an average first cheque size of Rs 8-10 crore. The investment strategy follows a dual-stage approach, primarily targeting startups at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 3–4, while also supporting those at more advanced stages (TRL 5-9) to accelerate market penetration.

"India's deep-tech ecosystem is at a pivotal moment, driven by supportive policies, sustained R&D investments, and a strong entrepreneurial aspiration among our youth. This fund will accelerate the scale-up of mission-driven, globally competitive startups while strengthening India's culture of innovation and entrepreneurship. We are pleased to partner with Unicorn India Ventures to advance India's deep-tech leadership -- imagining, designing, and building in India for the world," Natarajan Malupillai, Group CEO of IITM Research Park, said.

The fund is being positioned as "patient capital" with a tenure of 10+2 years. To ensure portfolio companies are not capital-starved, 60 per cent of the investable corpus will be deployed for initial investments, while 40 per cent will be reserved for follow-on rounds to support companies through the "Valley of Death" phase.

"As an active deep tech investor, we have already built a portfolio of nearly 30 companies and this new fund in partnership with IITMRP comes at the right time as we have met numerous innovative deep tech companies in the last 2 years. India has the talent, capital and patient investors like us and IITM to pool in our collective knowledge, resources and industry connections to help the next generation of deep tech founders," Bhaskar Majumdar, Managing Partner, Unicorn India Ventures, said. PTI ANK TRB