Speciale Invest Closes INR 600 Crore Fund III to Back Deep-Tech and Sovereign-Tech Startups The fund positions Speciale as one of India's largest investors at the pre-seed stage in deep-tech
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Venture capital firm Speciale Invest has announced the close of its third fund at INR 600 crore, exceeding its initial INR 500 crore target. Fund III will focus on 18–20 new investments between 2025 and 2029, targeting early-stage companies developing technologies in space, advanced manufacturing, energy, health, and artificial intelligence.
The fund positions Speciale as one of India's largest investors at the pre-seed stage in deep-tech. The firm said the scale of Fund III will allow it to lead early funding rounds, hold meaningful equity positions, and support founders through the long development cycles typical of hard-tech ventures.
"We believe the next generation of global champions will emerge from India's labs, R&D centers, and workshops. In a geopolitically complex and technologically interdependent world, building for India's resilience and sovereign capabilities is not just a national imperative—it is also a generational venture opportunity," said Vishesh Rajaram, Managing Partner, Speciale Invest.
Partner Arjun Rao added, "Deep-tech represents one of the most exciting frontiers for venture capital in India. The combination of world-class technical talent, increasing policy support, and global market access has created an unprecedented window to back companies solving some of humanity's most complex challenges from India."
Since 2018, Speciale Invest has been an early backer of several Indian deep-tech startups, including Agnikul Cosmos (orbital-class launch vehicles), the ePlane Company (electric aerial mobility), GalaxEye (multi-sensor satellite intelligence), QNu Labs (quantum cybersecurity), Fermbox (synthetic biology for industrial bioprocessing), Inspecity (in-orbit infrastructure), and Newtrace (electrolyzers for green hydrogen).
The firm said Fund III will double down on investments in sovereign-tech and deep-tech across sectors such as space technology, dual-use defense innovation, frontier computing, and sustainable energy. It is supported by returning limited partners, including family offices, institutions, and strategic investors.
Speciale Invest was founded in 2017 by Vishesh Rajaram and Arjun Rao and focuses on five themes: energy transition and planetary health, advanced manufacturing, space technology, advanced software and computing, and biosciences. The firm combines early-stage capital with technical and strategic support to help Indian startups compete globally.
