Deeptech investment firm Speciale Invest announced that its Fund III has closed at INR 600 crore, surpassing its target of INR 500 crore.
The fund will invest in sovereign technology and globally scalable intellectual property (IP) developed in India.
The VC firm aims to invest in 18–20 early-stage deeptech startups in fields such as AI infrastructure, spacetech, climatetech, quantum systems, advanced manufacturing, and dual-use defence.
Initial investments will be between INR 7 crore and INR 10 crore, with the possibility of investing more in select cases.
“We will start making investments immediately. For this fund, domestic HNIs, ultra HNIs and family offices form the biggest chunk of LPs. There are some small institutions and strategic players as well. However, the majority is domestic capital,” Arjun Rao, partner at the VC firm.
“A large learning from our Fund I and II has been that this is the best time to build sovereign-edge technologies in the country and begin serving global needs,” said Speciale’s Rajaram. He also added that India’s geopolitical position calls for reducing dependence on certain foreign technologies. Out of the Rs 600 crore fund, Rs 300 crore will be reserved for follow-up investments.
Founded in 2017 by Vishesh Rajaram and Rao, Speciale Invest focuses on seed-stage deeptech startups and has invested in companies such as Agnikul Cosmos, The ePlane Company, GalaxEye, QNu Labs, Fermbox, and InspeCity.
Its first fund in 2017 was INR 60 crore, followed by an INR 300 crore second fund in 2021. In 2023, it introduced a INR 185 crore growth fund for follow-on investments in its portfolio companies. So far, the firm has made nine exits through mergers and acquisitions.
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