Startup funding in India for deep technology is set for a busy finish to 2026. Mumbai-based Aavishkaar Group plans to announce at least six investments in deeptech startups by 31 December 2026, according to Mint reporting carried on 28 October 2026.
Where the six bets will land
The target sectors are technical textiles, deep agritech, tissue culture, materials science and spacetech. The group's investment arm has already deployed Rs 800 crore from its latest fund so far, and the group manages $1.2 billion in assets overall.
Aavishkaar is also expanding into deeptech through partnerships, including with Jamwant Ventures — which launched a Rs 500 crore defence and deeptech fund in October 2025 — and Riceberg Ventures, to help promising startups grow faster.
A Rs 2,000 crore seventh fund
Looking further ahead, Aavishkaar is raising a seventh fund with a target corpus of Rs 2,000 crore. Founder and vice chairman Vineet Rai said the fundraise launched last year and the group hopes to close it between March and June. Indian investors are expected to contribute 40-60% of the new corpus, a shift from the firm's previous reliance on foreign capital, which Rai linked partly to rupee depreciation against the dollar.
The fund will continue Aavishkaar's focus on businesses that use deep technology to deliver impact at scale, including defence-linked innovation and other capital-intensive sectors, with early-growth-stage companies — Series A and B — a particular focus.
For deeptech founders, the message is clear: patient, domestic capital is moving into hard technology, and funds are actively building pipelines now, ahead of the fund's close.
Why it matters for founders
Deeptech fundraising rewards founders who can show a working technology and a real customer, not just a deck. Aavishkaar's pipeline — and its shift to domestic capital — means Indian deeptech teams should be pitching now, before the six December bets are announced.