According to Tracxn, Indian deep-tech companies raised $1.06 billion in equity funding across 137 rounds by July 2025, which is twice the amount raised during the same period in 2024.
Even at this rate of growth, many startup founders say the lack of capital remains a significant challenge. Amidst the hustle to access the limited infrastructure, government funding, and incentives, the shortage of financial investment stands out as a key hurdle.
Still, several venture capital (VC) firms have committed themselves to supporting deep tech in India. Despite commerce minister Piyush Goyal’s comments on the sector earlier this year, many VCs have stepped forward to back India’s deep-tech journey.
Over the last decade, India’s focus has shifted from software services to building core technologies. Here are some of the VC firms helping India move towards becoming a global deep-tech leader.
Speciale Invest
Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Chennai, Speciale Invest is among India’s most visible deep tech and “sovereign edge” early-stage funds.
Their focus spans sectors such as space tech and aerospace, advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, robotics, climate and energy systems, and quantum and defence. They typically invest at pre-seed and seed stage, with a cheque of ~$1 million (or equivalent) and reserve ~50% of capital for follow-on injections.
Some of the significant firms in their portfolio include Agnikul Cosmos, GalaxEye, QNu Labs, VyomIC, The ePlane Company, InspeCity, and Inbound Aerospace. What differentiates them is a strong orientation toward building IP in India, co-investment in grants and capital stack plays, and fostering sovereign tech resilience.
In August 2025, they closed an oversubscribed Fund III at ₹600 crore (₹500 cr target) to back 18 to 20 deep tech startups over the coming years, signalling growing investor confidence.
YourNest Venture Capital
YourNest was founded from Gurugram in 2011. Their core verticals include AI, IoT, robotics, edge computing, AR/VR, dev tools, sensor and embedded systems, and industrial deep tech.
YourNest typically invests in pre-Series A and seed rounds, acting as “nurture capital” across subsequent stages as needed. They have backed more than 35 deep tech companies (out of ~51 total) and have realised ~10 exits (5–6× average returns), including Uniphore, LightSpeed Photonics, Exponent Energy, CRON AI, Orbo, Uptime AI.
Their current fund is nearly ~₹ 612.5 crore (Fund III) targeting deep tech across multiple domains.
Seafund
Founded in 2016, Seafund is headquartered in Bengaluru, with presence also in Delhi. It is a specialist deep-tech fund, focusing on sectors such as semiconductors and electronics design, space tech, advanced materials, climate and mobility, AI/ML, and enterprise hardware.
Its stage focus is seed and pre-Series A, with cheque sizes up to ~₹4 crore (and selective follow-ons up to ~₹12.5 crore) for promising companies. Its Fund I was ~₹25 crore, and its Fund II is targeting ~₹200 crore.
Seafund has invested in deep-tech startups across sectors such as semiconductors (Calligo Tech), space tech (TakeMe2Space), robotics (Genrobotics), AI-powered health tools, and forensic AI (Consint.ai).
Capital-A
Capital-A is a relatively younger player, founded in 2021 out of Bengaluru. It is explicitly positioned as an early-stage fund for “industrial, manufacturing, climate tech, deep tech, and real economy” startups, departing from the software-only norms.
Their target sectors include hardware, industrial automation, supply chain and logistics systems, clean energy, and embedded deep tech. They invest pre-seed to pre-Series A, typically with cheque sizes in the ₹6.5 crores ($0.75 million) to ₹26.5 crores ($3 million) range.
A notable portfolio example is Manastu Space, whose $3 million round Capital-A led in 2025. They also launched a ₹400 crore second fund to double down on deep tech, manufacturing and climate verticals.
What differentiates them is their origin tied to industrial roots (Manjushree group), operational domain support for hardware firms, and their ambition to back capital-intensive, long-cycle ventures.
pi Ventures
pi Ventures was founded in 2016 and operates from Bengaluru. It is an early-stage deep tech, AI and hardware fund. Its verticals include AI/ML, IoT, robotics, quantum, life sciences, sustainability, advanced materials, embedded systems, and frontier computing.
It is known for writing pre-seed and seed stage checks (and following through into Series A). Its portfolio includes Agnikul Cosmos, Ottonomy, Orbitt Space, and Quanfluence, among others.
They focus on “disruptive technologies solving real-world problems.”
Accel (India arm)
Accel is a global VC firm founded in 1983, with headquarters in Palo Alto, US. They have a strong Indian presence with an office in Bangalore. While Accel is not a deep tech exclusive, it has increasingly backed such tech and hardware plays in India.
These include the edtech startup Arivihan, Bengaluru’s Presentations.ai, Nabhdrishti Aerospace, and more.
The firm is also part of the US and India alliance of VCs that launched the India Deep Tech Investment Alliance (IDTA), as announced by Celesta Capital in September. The alliance has secured $1 billion in commitments to support startups in the semiconductor, space, quantum, robotics, AI, biotech, medical devices, energy, climate, and digital economy sectors.
Its Indian arm writes seed to growth checks, typically for early-stage, series A and B rounds. In 2025, Accel raised a $650 million early-stage fund for India & Southeast Asia, which strengthens its capacity to support ambitious ventures.
Blume Ventures
Blume Ventures is an India-based VC specialising in early-stage investing across sectors, including technology, hardware, cleantech, AI, robotics, etc. While not purely deep tech, it has backed several deep and hardware adjacent companies like GreyOrange and Ethereal Machines.
Other portfolio companies for Blume include space tech startup TakeMe2Space, robotics startup Ati Motors, cybersecurity firm Astra Security, and AI startup Atomicwork.
Blume typically invests seed and series A checks of varying size (depending on the stage). They were also part of the $1 billion deep tech alliance launched in India.
IIMA Ventures
IIMA Ventures is rooted in IIM Ahmedabad, India, with its broad portfolio, which strategically includes deep tech, digitisation, climate tech and sustainability verticals. It invests at pre-seed and seed stages, and its typical cheque size is $100k–150k per venture.
Over its lifetime, IIMA Ventures has made 300+ direct early-stage investments and supported ~40 startups via funds, with exits numbering over 35. Notable deep tech investments include Agnikul Cosmos, SatLeo Labs, Nabhdrishti Aerospace, Morphing Machines, ePlane Company, Orbitt Space, and Cancrie.
What differentiates IIMA Ventures is its academic and institutional backbone, close ties with government and ecosystem partners, ability to incubate funds (e.g. Bharat Innovation Fund), and catalytic grant-plus-equity models to de-risk early deep tech bets.
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