IIT Madras, IIT Madras Research Park and Unicorn India Ventures have achieved the first close of their deep-tech fund, IITM Unicorn Frontier Fund I, at Rs 450 crore. The milestone was announced on Saturday at an event in Bengaluru in the presence of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The fund targets a total corpus of Rs 1,000 crore, with a Rs 600 crore base and a Rs 400 crore greenshoe option, and aims for a final close by December 2026. It plans to back about 25 early-stage deep-tech startups with cheques of Rs 15 crore to Rs 25 crore across defence, spacetech, semiconductors, robotics and AI infrastructure.

Nearly Rs 55 crore has already been deployed across four startups: Chennai-based Hathor, which builds rocket engines; Delhi-based Quanastra, working on quantum systems; Triolt Energy in batteries; and Carbelim in carbon capture. Most of the money so far has come from IIT Madras alumni and family offices.

Why it matters: patient capital is scarce for deep-tech startups that need years to reach the market. What happens next: the fund expects institutional investors and banks to join before the December final close.