Early-stage venture capital firm Unicorn India Ventures is on track to close its Rs 1,000 crore Fund III by July. The firm plans to allocate 75-80% of the fund to deeptech sectors such as semiconductor, spacetech, and medical diagnostics, while the remaining 20% will be directed toward digital India initiatives and SaaS companies.
The firm has already made 12 investments from this fund in startups like Netrasami, EyeRov, Orbitaid, Exsure, and Aurassure, among others. It aims to make 10 additional investments this year while reinvesting in high-potential portfolio companies. The fund’s first close was achieved at Rs 225 crore, and it has since garnered approximately Rs 750 crore. Unicorn India Ventures typically writes initial cheques of Rs 10 crore, followed by additional investments of up to $10 million for promising companies.
Unicorn India Ventures launched its first fund with a Rs 100 crore corpus, backing 17 startups, including SmartCoin, Open Bank, Sequretek, Pharmarack, Genrobotics, and Clootrack. The firm claims that Fund I has been one of the country’s best-performing early-stage funds, delivering a 2.4X return to investors and still holding assets worth 6-7X. According to Bhaskar Majumdar, managing partner at Unicorn India Ventures, the fund has achieved an internal rate of return (IRR) exceeding 50% annually.
The firm’s second fund, a Rs 300 crore vehicle launched in 2020, has invested in 20 companies such as Gamerji, Probus, Daalchini, Windo, and HiWi. Many of these companies are scaling rapidly, with multiple funding rounds secured.
Within deeptech, Unicorn India Ventures prioritises companies with strong intellectual property (IP) that can be patented and defended. “A highly IP-driven business in the drone or spacetech sector is of interest to us. But if the business model is easy to replicate, we may not back it,” said Majumdar. He also underlined the importance of prior experience in deeptech, particularly for founding teams.
As venture capital interest in deeptech and AI-driven businesses grows, valuations remain high, potentially deterring some investors. Majumdar said that exit opportunities have been challenging due to prolonged instability in Indian markets. However, he expects exits to improve as market conditions stabilise in the coming months.
In FY25, Unicorn India Ventures has already made 13 new investments and 10 follow-up investments in its portfolio, reinforcing its commitment to fostering deeptech innovation in India.