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Aum Ventures Raises Rs 225 Cr for Deeptech Fund II

31 Aug 2026

Aum Ventures has announced a Rs 225 crore first close of its second fund, India Innovation Fund II, targeting a total corpus of Rs 750 crore (~$80 million). The fund is aimed squarely at pre-seed and seed-stage startups in spacetech, semiconductors, defence-tech, AI, robotics, energy transition, and advanced manufacturing — sectors that have drawn increasing government and investor attention over the past year.

More than 65% of the commitments in this first close came from international limited partners, according to the report. Aum plans to write initial cheques of $750,000 to $2 million, backing an expected 25-30 portfolio companies.

Fund I track record

Aum's first fund, launched in 2023, has reportedly produced a gross MOIC of 2.23x and a gross IRR of 53%, with two portfolio companies up more than 14x from their entry valuations. Chetan Mehta, associated with the fund, said its ambition is to back exceptional Indian entrepreneurs from the earliest stages to help them build global companies. Specific portfolio companies behind the 14x figures were not named in the report, and no timeline was given for when Aum expects to close the full Rs 750 crore target.

A broader deeptech and policy tailwind

Aum's raise lands against a backdrop of accelerating government support for deeptech in India:

  • The Rs 1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund was approved in 2025. By July 2026, the Technology Development Board had approved 22 projects worth Rs 4,744 crore, including Rs 2,192 crore in RDI support.
  • In February 2026, the government created a dedicated Deep Tech Startup category, extending the recognition age to 20 years and the turnover limit to Rs 300 crore.
  • In July 2026, the Cabinet approved Semicon 2.0, an outlay of Rs 1,27,500 crore, alongside 12 fabrication/packaging projects and 24 design projects under the wider Semicon programme.
  • Startup India Fund of Funds 2.0 carries a Rs 10,000 crore corpus.

Spacetech has provided some of the most visible proof points: in May 2026, Skyroot became India's first spacetech startup to reach a $1 billion valuation after a $60 million round, and on July 18, 2026, its Vikram-I became the first privately developed Indian rocket to reach orbit from Indian soil.

Competing for the same deal flow

Aum is not alone in chasing India's deeptech and early-stage opportunity. Piper Serica raised Rs 300 crore in the first close of its Rs 800 crore Bharat Tech Fund in August 2026, also targeting semiconductors, AI, defence and space.

At the larger end of the market, capital inflows have been substantial:

  • Accel closed an oversubscribed $550 million India fund on August 11, 2026, part of a coordinated $3.5 billion global fundraise spanning India, the US, Europe, and a $1.35 billion growth vehicle. Its previous $650 million India fund, raised 19 months earlier, still has more than 55% available for deployment; the new fund's deployment is expected to begin in 2027. Accel reportedly writes the first institutional check in roughly 80% of the companies it backs, and portfolio company RapidClaims delivers around 95% medical coding accuracy.
  • Peak XV Partners raised $1.3 billion across new India and Southeast Asia-focused funds.
  • General Catalyst has committed to deploying $5 billion in India over five years.
  • Lightspeed Venture Partners is reportedly exploring a new $300-$350 million India-focused fund.

Accel's Shekhar Kirani said significant capital is available for early-stage investing across AI, consumer, fintech, advanced manufacturing, and deep tech, while Prayank Swaroop noted that while early movers have focused on LLMs, a significant opportunity remains at the application layer. The report also notes that OpenAI and Anthropic have identified India as their largest market outside the US, and Cursor has called India one of its fastest-growing developer markets and its largest market for power users.

Risks to watch

Several structural risks accompany this wave of deeptech and AI investment:

  • Aum's heavy reliance (65%+) on international LPs could expose the fund to currency or geopolitical swings that affect future capital calls.
  • Deeptech sectors like spacetech and semiconductors typically require long gestation periods and heavy capital intensity, which could pressure return timelines relative to Fund I's software-era metrics.
  • Larger funds — Accel's $550 million, Peak XV's $1.3 billion, and General Catalyst's $5 billion — could push up valuations and squeeze deal access for smaller funds like Aum's.
  • Government policy support, including Semicon 2.0 and the RDI Fund, could shift or lapse, affecting the wider ecosystem that funds like Aum's depend on.

The report does not disclose the specific LPs behind Aum's first close, nor does it detail how much overlap exists between Aum, Piper Serica, and Accel in competing for the same deeptech deal flow.

Why founders should care

For early-stage founders in deeptech, AI, and adjacent sectors, this wave of activity is likely to translate into more available capital and possibly more competitive terms — but not without trade-offs. The concentration of large funds (Accel, Peak XV, General Catalyst) chasing similar themes could mean founders see more term sheets, though it may also mean higher investor expectations and potentially inflated valuations at the top end. Aum's Fund I metrics — a 2.23x MOIC and 53% IRR — may suggest that early deeptech bets in India can pay off, but these results are specific to Fund I's vintage and are not a guarantee for Fund II or the sector broadly. Founders eyeing government schemes such as Semicon 2.0 or the Deep Tech Startup category should independently verify eligibility, since policy support, while currently strong, could shift over time. On balance, the environment appears to favor deeptech founders seeking early checks, but capital intensity and long gestation periods in hardware-heavy sectors mean execution risk remains real even amid the funding surge.

Sources