Deep tech-focused VC firm Speciale Invest closes ₹600-crore new fund
(from left) Vishesh Rajaram, Managing Partner, and Arjun Rao, Partner, Speciale Invest.
Chennai-based Venture Capital (VC) firm Speciale Invest has closed its new fund – Fund III – at ₹600 crore, making it one of India’s largest pre-seed stage deep tech-focused fund.
The new fund exceeded its initial target of ₹500 crore and is intended to support 18-20 new investments in the next four years, focusing on deep tech segments of space, advanced manufacturing, energy, health, and artificial intelligence, among others. Over 50 per cent of the fund will be reserved for follow-on investments.
Founded in 2018, Speciale Invest has invested in several of India’s deep tech start-ups, including Agnikul Cosmos, ePlane Company, GalaxEye, QNu Labs, Fermbox, Inspecity and Newtrace, among others.
Speaking to businessline, Vishesh Rajaram, Managing Partner, Speciale Invest, said that a ₹600-crore fund will enable the firm back early-stage companies through multiple rounds, providing longer-term support without changing the core strategy or investment stage.
Focus on relevance
The VC firm is specifically keen to use the fund to back sectors and entrepreneurs who can aid India’s technology sovereignty and independence.
“Our focus is on companies that can help give India an edge in sectors that are globally sensitive like space, semiconductors, energy defence and other potential assets that are geopolitically very important and relevant. I think it’s time for India to build some of these capabilities ourselves. Our technology competence and expertise from academia and industry today is very comparable to the rest of the world and we want to build on that,” said Rajaram.
The fund will also focus on companies with global standards like compliance, IP, and certifications and execution depth with founders having full-stack capability from R&D to commercialisation.
Rajaram also mentioned that that over 50 per cent of the fund’s capital came from existing Limited Partners (LPs) indicating strong reaffirmation of support. Speciale Invests’ earlier funds include Fund I (₹60 crore), Fund II (₹300 crore) and a top-up fund of around ₹186 crore for the second fund.
Published on August 12, 2025
