Indian Institute of Technology Madras Research Park (IITMRP), in collaboration with Unicorn India Ventures, on Friday announced the launch of a ₹600-crore fund to support deep tech startups across India.
Called IIT Madras Unicorn Frontier Fund I, it will have ₹400 crore ‘greenshoe option’, a clause that allows underwriters sell 15 per cent more shares than planned if the demand was high. In the initial phase, it plans to invest in over 25 startups that range from robotics, space tech, defence tech, and semiconductors.
Announcing this at the inauguration of Entrepreneurship Summit 2026, V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said the fund would be operational in about three or four months after all the necessary approvals were obtained. The School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, he said, would start offering programmes and courses soon and develop course materials so as to provide a fillip to the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Startups not only incubated within IITMRP but from across the country will be able to seek funding, Dr. Kamakoti added. The fund aims to target the ‘valley of death’ curve, the phase in the life of a startup between start of operations and generation of revenue, and convert it to ‘valley of hope’.
