August 13, 2025: Early-stage venture capital firm Speciale Invest has closed its third fund at ₹600 crore, surpassing its original ₹500 crore target. The Chennai-based investor plans to deploy the capital in 18–20 deeptech startups over the next four years, targeting sectors including spacetech, advanced manufacturing, clean energy, healthcare, and artificial intelligence.
Half of the fund will be reserved for follow-on rounds to support portfolio companies beyond their seed stages, ensuring sustained capital availability for ventures with long development cycles. Initial investment cheques will range from ₹7 crore to ₹10 crore, with the VC maintaining consistent round sizes to avoid early-stage dilution pressures.
“Deeptech ventures often require extended timelines before achieving commercial readiness. This fund allows us to continue backing them in subsequent rounds without the need for crossover capital,” said Vishesh Rajaram, Managing Partner, Speciale Invest.
Speciale Invest’s Third Fund Targets India’s Next Tech Leap
The fund’s investment philosophy is anchored around three themes:
- Sovereign edge – technologies that strengthen national capabilities.
- Global market readiness – solutions built with export potential.
- Capital stack orchestration – structuring funding for scalability.
Speciale Invest’s portfolio already includes Agnikul Cosmos (spacetech), QNu Labs (quantum cryptography), and GalaxEye (multi-sensor satellites).
Implications for Entrepreneurs
For founders, the launch signals patient capital availability in a segment that has historically faced funding gaps. Deeptech entrepreneurs can expect:
- Longer funding runways without frequent capital-raising distractions.
- Strategic support in scaling towards global markets.
- Focused sector expertise from a team experienced in early-stage tech risk.
Since its first ₹60 crore fund in 2017, Speciale Invest has steadily scaled up, nearly doubling its fund size with each cycle. Its second fund was ₹300 crore, and the current closure reflects growing investor confidence in India’s ability to produce globally competitive deeptech companies.
The firm’s parallel ₹185 crore growth fund will continue to handle follow-on rounds for startups from earlier funds, ensuring continuity across its portfolio.
By 2029, Speciale Invest aims to have fully deployed the ₹600 crore corpus, aligning its investments with India’s self-reliance and innovation objectives in high-technology sectors.
