Seafund: Bengaluru's deeptech-first VC funding mission-driven technology teams

Seafund (formerly SEA Fund) is a Bengaluru-based venture capital firm — also operating from Delhi — registered with SEBI as a Category II Alternative Investment Fund. Founded in 2015, it describes itself as venture capital for mission-driven teams building disruptive, scalable tech. Its first fund was a Rs 25 crore micro-fund (deployed from around 2018 across 13 startups with 1 exit); Fund II targets Rs 250 crore (announced November 2022, first close at Rs 30 crore).

Investment thesis

Seafund is early-stage, sector-agnostic but stage-focused, with deeptech as an underlying theme. The conviction is that India's engineering talent can build globally competitive technology companies — semiconductors, spacetech, robotics — if founders get patient, technically literate capital at the earliest stages, when the risk is highest and generalist funds are most hesitant.

Sectors, stages and cheque sizes

The firm invests at pre-seed, seed and pre-Series A across semiconductors, AI/ML, cybersecurity, spacetech, robotics, biotechnology, medtech, EV and alternate fuels, fintech, enterprise technology and consumer tech. Fund II cheques average Rs 2–5 crore (per Inc42); the firm's own writing cites initial cheques of $300K–$750K with follow-on reserves.

Notable portfolio

Portfolio names include Genrobotics, Clootrack, Pupilfirst, BestDoc, Finsall and AdvaRisk.

People

Manoj Kumar Agarwal and Mayuresh Raut are Managing Partners, with Narendra Bhandari as General Partner.

Programs and founder support

Seafund runs a mobility accelerator with Sanchiconnect, a defence-startup programme with the Defence Innovation Organisation (iDEX-DIO), and a Kerala startups initiative. No formal credits or perks programme is publicly documented.

How to engage

Seafund's Rs 2–5 crore average Fund II cheques (initial cheques $300K–$750K) are aimed squarely at the pre-seed-to-pre-Series-A gap where deeptech founders struggle most. The pitch should lead with the technology — what is genuinely hard, what IP exists, what the technical milestones are — because this team evaluates engineering risk, not just market risk. Defence and mobility founders can enter through the firm's iDEX-DIO programme or the Sanchiconnect mobility accelerator, which double as diligence channels. Follow-on reserves exist, so founders should discuss the Series A roadmap upfront.