IIT Madras, Unicorn India Ventures Close ₹450 Cr Deeptech
IIT Madras Research Park and Unicorn India Ventures have secured the first ₹450 crore close of a deeptech fund, deploying nearly ₹55 crore across four
The IIT Madras Research Park and Unicorn India Ventures have achieved the first close of their IITM Unicorn Frontier Fund I at ₹450 crore. Nearly ₹55 crore has already been deployed across four deeptech startups. This initial milestone was reached just three months after the fund received regulatory approval from SEBI.
Investment focus and portfolio details
The fund will concentrate on six strategic verticals: Defense Technology, Space Technology, Semiconductors, Manufacturing Technology, Robotics & Automation, AI Infrastructure/GenAI, and Health Tech. Most investments will target early-stage startups at technology readiness levels three to four. The four initial portfolio companies are all working on advanced engineering challenges.
Bhaskar Majumdar is the Managing Partner of Unicorn India Ventures. The fund's cheque sizes for investments typically range from ₹15 crore to ₹25 crore.
Structure and future scaling
The fund has a base corpus of ₹600 crore and includes a greenshoe option of ₹400 crore. This structure allows it to potentially raise up to ₹1,000 crore. A final close targeting that maximum amount is planned for December 2026. The fund aims to build a portfolio of approximately 25 intellectual-property-led startups by that date.
Institutional investors, including banks, financial institutions, and corporations with strategic interests, are expected to participate in the final close. Unicorn India Ventures plans to mobilise additional capital through co-investments to support later-stage funding needs for its portfolio companies. Each investment will be assessed for export potential, import replacement capability, and its contribution to building domestic technological capacity.
Context and endorsements
The fund's launch aligns with broader national priorities for technological self-reliance. The announcement was made at the IITMAA Sangam 2026 event, where Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman participated in a fireside chat. She called for increased investment in emerging areas like AI infrastructure, semiconductors, and quantum technology. Sitharaman showed the need to accelerate efforts in building hardware, skills, and the institutional ecosystem for these technologies.
She also highlighted the continued need for substantial investment in AI hardware and education in India, despite global calls to slow AI development. Also, she underlined the requirement for greater investment in defence production, particularly in unmanned systems and drones.
Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi noted India's electricity generation capacity growth and highlighted IIT Madras's startup ecosystem. He stated the institute has incubated 583 startups with a combined valuation of around ₹83,000 crore, filed over 400 patents in the last three years, and seen alumni contributions of ₹950 crore.
Industry leader Sridhar Vembu, Chief Scientist at Zoho Corporation, framed the need for national security and economic sovereignty. He argued that critical foreign technological dependencies can be weaponised. Vembu cited the cost disparity in drone technology and the high fees extracted by foreign card networks as examples of risks. He stated that without indigenous alternatives, India risks economic extraction and vulnerability to platform kill-switches.
Prof. V. Kamakoti of IIT Madras added that the institute's programmes have reached around 53,000 students, and its NPTEL-SWAYAM courses serve about 1.5 million learners. The fund's backers include IIT Madras alumni and family offices. Natarajan Malupillai is the Group CEO of IIT Madras Research Park, Incubation Cell & RTBI. The fund aims to reach a final close of ₹1,000 crore by December 2026 and build a portfolio of 25 startups.
