Investor Profile: pi Ventures — India's deeptech-only fund with $85M to back bold science

pi Ventures is India's pioneering deeptech fund: founded in 2016 by Manish Singhal and Umakant Soni. Its site describes "high-stake bets on disruptive, early-stage companies" with patience for deep-tech innovation cycles. The Bengaluru firm has closed two funds totalling $115M.

Thesis and focus areas

pi Ventures is deeptech-only: startups using cutting-edge science and engineering to solve complex problems, with significant R&D and defensible IP. Its FAQ names AI, machine learning, robotics, energy, life sciences, quantum, advanced materials and sustainability. It invests at seed to Series A and is open to pre-revenue startups with a strong technological foundation. Fund I focused on applied AI, ML and IoT; Fund II broadened to spacetech, biotech, blockchain, nanotech and material science. The firm likes to be the first institutional investor in a startup — going in as early as possible.

Fund size and cheque size

Fund I closed in 2018 at Rs 225 crore ($30M), above its Rs 195 crore target, backed by CDC Group, IFC, SIDBI, Hero Enterprise's Sunil Kant Munjal, Accel and entrepreneurs including Binny Bansal, Deep Kalra and Sanjeev Bikhchandani. Fund II launched in 2021 with an initial target of Rs 565 crore ($75M) plus a Rs 185 crore greenshoe (a stated $75–100M range) and closed in August 2023 at Rs 702 crore ($85M). Backers include British International Investment (BII), Nippon India Digital Innovation AIF, Accel, Colruyt, Premji Invest, a Rs 100 crore SIDBI Fund of Funds commitment, and family offices of founders including Binny Bansal, Anupam Mittal and Deep Kalra. Cheques run $0.5–1M, with significant reserves for follow-ons.

Notable portfolio

The first fund backed around 15 companies: Niramai (AI breast-cancer screening), SigTuple (AI diagnostics), Wysa (AI mental-health companion), Locus (logistics), Agnikul Cosmos (launch vehicles), Pixis (AI marketing), ten3T, Zenatix, CustomerSuccessBox and SwitchOn. Fund II is deploying into 20–25 startups including immunitoAI, Ottonomy, Silence Laboratories, Preimage, Zero Cow Factory, LimeChat, Ai Palette and Insane, plus deep-science bets like Pranos Fusion (fusion reactors) and Velmenni (optical wireless; Rs 30 crore pre-Series A led by pi in March 2026).

Partners

Manish Singhal, founding partner, brings 30+ years across technology, product and investing (ex-co-founder and CEO of LetsVenture). Abishek Surendran joined as a partner in 2017, and Shubham Sandeep is a partner leading investments across quantum, robotics, blockchain, biotech and advanced materials. The firm calls its team "investors with founder DNA."

Programs, credits and perks

pi Ventures's edge is technical, not programmatic. It takes a "fill-in-the-blank" approach to portfolio support: working with founders to identify gaps, then helping with customer discovery, investor connects and leadership hiring, internally or through its network. There is no publicly advertised credits or perks programme — the value is deep domain expertise, patience with long R&D cycles and founder-friendly terms.

How founders can approach them

Pitch decks go to [email protected] or directly to the team on LinkedIn. Applications are evaluated on the strength of the technology, the team, market potential and thesis fit — and pre-revenue bets are fine if the science is strong. If you are building defensible, R&D-heavy technology and want an investor that understands innovation cycles, pi is built for that conversation.