IIMA Ventures to back 30 deep-tech startups with Rs 40 crore fund

In August 2023, both institutions signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish a jointly funded initiative with equal contributions from each side

IIMA Ventures, a technology-focused investment platform, aims to invest in 30 deep-tech startups from a ₹40 crore corpus under its partnership with Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi). 

 

The platform has invested in 5-7 companies so far, and will invest the remaining in the next 18 months, according to Priyanka Agarwal Chopra, managing partner and chief executive officer (CEO), IIMA Ventures.

 

IIMA Ventures and Sidbi signed a memorandum of understanding in August 2023 to establish a jointly-funded initiative with equal contributions. “We started making investments in the beginning of last year,” Chopra said.

 

Companies funded under the initiative include fabless semiconductor startup Morphing Machines, aerospace startup Nabhdrishti Aerospace, and clean energy startup Cancrie. The average ticket size of investment is about $200,000, Chopra added.

 

 

Talking about future plans of IIMA Ventures, Chopra said, “We want to double down on the pre-seed stage, whether these are funds done in collaboration with organisations or our own funds. We also want to increase the pools of capital available to support startups in the zero to one stage.”

 

“As we remain committed to deep tech, IP (intellectual property)-driven innovations are of deep interest to us, and we will make a lot more investments this year,” the IIMA Ventures CEO added.

 

The platform has funded nearly 400 startups to date. “In these startups, pre-seed and seed stage, we have invested about $16-18 million cumulatively,” Chopra said further. It plans to invest in 40-50 startups in 2025 and is expecting 4-6 exits by the end of the year.

 

Overall, IIMA Ventures focuses on thematic areas of deep tech, digitisation, and climate tech. It has invested in space-tech startup Agnikul, flying-taxi startup The ePlane Company, insurance-tech startup Riskcovry, and clean-tech company Carbon Trail, among others.