IIT Madras To Launch INR 200 Cr Alumni-Backed Early Stage Startup Fund

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras has said it plans to launch an INR 200 Cr venture capital (VC) fund to back early-stage startups, particularly in the deeptech domain.

Called the ‘IITM Alumni Fund’, the new fund will focus on startups incubated at the institute that are seeking pre-Series A and Series A investments. The announcement was made at Sangam 2025, IIT Madras’ annual alumni event held in Bengaluru last week.

The fund will operate as an independent legal entity and follow standard VC fund processes. Most of the funding is expected to come from IIT Madras alumni and high-net-worth individuals (HNIs).

Notably, IIT Madras counts the likes of electric vehicle (EV) maker Ather Energy and AI unicorn Uniphore among its alumni ventures.

At the time of Ather’s IPO earlier this year, the institution made about INR 1.13 Cr by selling 35,241 shares.

The current initiative is part of the institute’s push to back promising startups and enable the “next wave of unicorns”.

“We aim to raise INR 200 Cr in our first fund through alumni contributions. This is an opportunity for our community to back strong startups and grow together. It also supports our vision of launching 100 deeptech startups every year under the Startup Shatam programme,” said IIT Madras director V Kamakoti.

IIT Madras claims to have already incubated over 500 startups, collectively valued at more than INR 50,000 Cr (about $6 Bn).

Besides the fund, IIT Madras runs an Incubation Cell, which offers funding, advisory, workspaces and connections to incubated startups.

The institute backs startups in specific areas like sports tech via groups like Pravartak Technologies Foundation and the Centre of Excellence in Sports Science and Analytics (CESSA). It infuses up to INR 5 Cr per startup, usually in exchange for a stake in the company.

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