Chennai: IIT Madras Research Park (IITMRP) and deep-tech-focused venture capital firm Unicorn India Ventures announced the first close of its fund at Rs 450 crore. It has also backed four deep-tech startups. The announcements were made on Saturday in the presence of union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.The fund has a total target corpus of Rs 1,000 crore, with a Rs 400 crore green shoe option. The final close is expected by December- March 2027. Natarajan Malupillai, group CEO of IITMRP, said the quick first close, in just three months after receiving SEBI’s approval, is driven by strong interest from the IITM alumni ecosystem with backing from prominent names like Kris Gopalakrishnan, clients of the research park. While the current investments are predominantly from individuals and family offices, institutional investors are expected to join in the final close, which includes banks and financial institutions, corporations with strategic interest in these target sectors.The fund also announced it will deploy nearly Rs 55 crore across four startups, with an initial ticket size of Rs 10 crore, in seed to pre–Series A investments. The startups are: Hathor, a Chennai-based spacetech startup building semi-cryogenic and cryogenic rocket engines; Quanstra, a Delhi-based quantum deeptech startup focusing on industrial quantum applications; Triolt Energy, which is developing lithium-ion battery cells for drones; and Carbelim, a startup developing bio-integrated carbon capture and air purification systems.The institute is building its own venture fund to support startups with Unicorn India and aims to focus on semiconductors, space, mobility, climate, health, AI, robotics, cybersecurity and quantum. The institute said the fund will focus on high-conviction verticals where India holds a structural “right to win” globally.The fund aims to back over 25- 30 startups in the next three years, targeting 8–12 investments per year and reserving 40–50% of the corpus for initial portfolio construction. The rest is reserved for follow-on rounds in Series A and beyond to support winners toward unicorn status or take them to the public markets.
