IIT Madras Research Park (IITMRP) and Unicorn India Ventures have launched the “IITM Unicorn Frontier Fund I,” a INR 6 billion deep technology fund with an additional INR 4 billion greenshoe option. The fund will invest in intellectual property-led, engineering-focused startups in sectors including robotics, space technology, defence technology, semiconductors and medical technology that align with national strategic interests.
IITMRP has appointed Unicorn India Ventures as the fund manager. The fund will operate with a 10 plus two years structure and is intended to provide patient capital to deep tech ventures.
The fund aims to build a portfolio of more than 25 companies, with an average first cheque size ranging between INR 80 million and INR 100 million. The investment strategy will primarily target early-stage deep tech startups that have reached Technology Readiness Level (TRL) three to four, and will extend support to companies at TRL five to seven and select early late-stage firms at TRL seven to nine to support scale-up and market penetration.
Portfolio construction will allocate 60 percent of the investable corpus towards initial investments and reserve 40 percent for follow-on rounds. A significant proportion of investments will be directed towards companies within the IIT Madras ecosystem, with the remainder deployed across the wider Indian deep tech sector.
“Science and technology will play a crucial role in the growth story and towards India becoming Viksit Bharat 2047, focusing on technology sovereignty, AI, semiconductors, defencetech and quantum technology. The need of the hour to reduce reliance on technology imports and strengthen indigenous capabilities. IIT Madras has been in forefront of this wave for over a decade and this Fund is the next logical step for us,” said Dr Kamakoti Veezhinathan, Director of IIT Madras.
“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 & 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,” said Natarajan Malupillai, Group CEO of IITM Research Park.
“It is an honour to be selected by IITM & IITMRP, which have been the backbone of deep tech innovation in India. With our proven understanding of deep tech, we believe we have the resources and the network to support early-stage deep tech companies. 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,” said Bhaskar Majumdar, Managing Partner, Unicorn India Ventures.
IIT Madras, established in 1959 and located in Chennai, operates as an autonomous institution of national importance and spans approximately 630 acres. IIT Madras Research Park, spread over more than 11 acres with over 1.2 million square feet of workspace, houses over 250 research-driven companies and more than 500 startups. Unicorn India Ventures, founded in 2016, manages three funds with assets under management of around INR 20 billion.
