IIT Madras Deep-Tech Fund Marks First Close at ₹450 Crore, Backs Four Startups

IIT Madras, IIT Madras Research Park (IITMRP) and venture capital firm Unicorn India Ventures have completed the first close of their deep-tech Unicorn Frontier Fund at ₹450 crore. The fund has a target corpus of ₹1,000 crore.

The first close was reached within three months of the fund receiving approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), an IITMRP spokesperson said. The final close is expected by December 2026.

The ₹450 crore raised so far comes from a mix of IIT Madras alumni, prominent family offices, institutions, corporates and banks. Among the alumni investors is Kris Gopalakrishnan, co-founder of Infosys and chairperson of Axilor Ventures.

Four startups have already drawn funding from the corpus.

Chennai-based Hathor is developing semi-cryogenic and cryogenic rocket engines for small and medium satellite launch vehicles. Carbelim works on nature-based decarbonisation technology aimed at improving air quality in cities, with the idea that buildings and infrastructure can also function as carbon sinks. Quanstra is building single photon detection systems and quantum instrumentation, while Triolt Energy is working on next-generation lithium and lithium energy storage solutions.

The fund will invest in intellectual property-led, engineering-heavy deep-tech startups. Most of the portfolio is expected to consist of early-stage companies that have reached Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 3–4, a stage at which a technology has been demonstrated in a laboratory setting and is moving towards validation in a relevant environment.

Over its life, the fund aims to build a portfolio of about 25 startups, with an average cheque size of ₹15–25 crore per company.

It will concentrate on six areas where, in the view of its managers, India has the potential to build globally competitive capabilities:

Defence technology, with a focus on import substitution; space technology, including space-qualified hardware; semiconductors, with an emphasis on fabless design and ownership of intellectual property; manufacturing technology, robotics and automation; AI infrastructure and generative AI, including sovereign enterprise AI; and health tech, including solutions aimed at widening access to healthcare.

V. Kamakoti, Director of IIT Madras, said: “This VC Fund is a humble attempt by IIT Madras and Unicorn India to support promising startups cross their respective valleys of hope and rise up to become a Unicorn.”

Natarajan Malupillai, Group CEO of IIT Madras Research Park and Incubation Cell, said: “Beyond individual startups, our ambition is to strengthen India's technology capabilities, build greater self-reliance in critical sectors and position India as a leader in frontier technologies.”

Ashwin Mahalingam, Dean (Alumni and Corporate Relations) at IIT Madras, said: “As alumni and alma mater, our success stories are deeply intertwined. Initiatives such as the VC fund provide an opportunity for our alumni to go a step beyond contributing to IIT Madras and actively invest in the growth and success of its innovation ecosystem.” He added that the fund would help address the need for patient capital, which he described as critical to the success of deep-tech startups.

Deep-tech ventures typically take longer than conventional software businesses to move from research to commercial products, because they involve hardware, long testing cycles and regulatory approvals. This has historically made them harder to finance through standard venture capital timelines. The new fund joins a growing set of Indian initiatives that pool institutional, corporate and alumni money to back such ventures at an early stage.

The ₹450 crore first close means the fund can begin deploying capital while it continues to raise the remaining ₹550 crore towards its ₹1,000 crore target.