Navam Capital closes maiden deeptech fund at over Rs 315 crore

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Navam Capital has announced the final close of its maiden fund, Navam Venture Fund-I (NVF-I), with the early-stage Category II AIF raising Rs 250 crore and exercising its green shoe option to close at over Rs 315 crore ($35 million).

The India-focused fund will back intellectual-property-led deep technology startups built in India for global markets, spanning areas such as advanced computing, semiconductors, robotics, drone tech, space tech, industrial automation, enterprise AI, climate tech, and materials science.

NVF-I has attracted a diversified limited partner base, including technology founders, industrial groups and conglomerates, business operators, and family offices, the firm said in a release.

“India today offers a rare convergence of world-class engineering talent, deepening capital markets, cost-efficient R&D. This trifecta is expanding the opportunity set of ventures being created and built,” Rajeev Mantri, Founder and Managing Partner at Navam Capital, said, adding that the fund is partnering with founders developing IP-rich, proprietary platforms and products that are invented in India and built for the world.

“The evolution of India’s entrepreneurial landscape has been extremely promising, and we are in the early stages of a long runway ahead for product-driven and IP-differentiated venture building," Anjan Ray, Investment Partner at Navam Capital, said in the release.

Navam's investment approach is sourcing across founder networks, academia, research institutions, and industrial labs.

It also said it focuses on rigorous technical diligence supported by domain experts, and works closely with founders to translate lab breakthroughs into manufacturable and commercially viable products, including through its network of industrial and B2B companies.

The fund’s portfolio includes startups working on reconfigurable computing architectures, swarm robotics, multi-sensor satellite imaging, quantum-safe cybersecurity hardware, AI-driven industrial inspection systems, advanced drones, and novel sensing technologies.

Several of these originate from Indian institutions such as the Indian Institute of Science and IITs.