Agnikul Cosmos Backer Navam Capital Marks First Close Of Maiden VC Fund At INR 50 Cr

Navam Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on investing in frontier technology startups, has marked the first close of its maiden alternative investment fund (AIF), Navam Venture Fund I, at INR 50 Cr (around $6 Mn).

The fund targets a total corpus of INR 250 Cr (around $30 Mn) and aims to invest in startups across frontier tech sectors, including aerospace, climate tech, electric mobility, agritech and artificial intelligence among others.

It has secured initial commitments from a clutch of family offices, corporations and ultra-high-net-worth individuals, Moneycontrol reported.

The VC firm further said that the fund will focus more on intellectual property-rich startups with rich engineering orientation and technical differentiation.

Founded by Rajeev Mantri, who is also the cofounder of Vyome Therapeutics and director at GPSK Investment Group, Kolkata-based Navam Capital focuses on investing in the frontier technology sector. 

Frontier technology or deep tech, comprises artificial intelligence, IoT, quantum computing, space, neuroscience, genomics, robotics/drones, blockchain, augmented and virtual reality, bioinformatics, energy and autonomous vehicles.

Navam’s current portfolio includes Ather Energy, Agnikul Cosmos, Alyssum Therapeutics and Vyome Therapeutics, Aereo and Ornagewood Labs.

“The successful launch milestone underscores the confidence of the limited partner universe in India’s formidable science and technology capabilities, and reaffirms the trust Navam has built as an early partner for ventures in frontier technology innovation,” Mantri said.

This comes days after Navam’s participation in the INR 100 Cr Series A funding round for agritech startup Fasal led by TDK Ventures and British International Investment (BII).

Amid the ongoing funding winter, deep tech space has managed to grow over the past years. 

As per Inc42’s “Indian Tech Startup Funding Report 2023”, deeptech startups raised $496 Mn in 2023 compared to $397 Mn in the previous year.

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