Venture capital firm Speciale Invest, known for its focus on deep technology, is preparing to launch a major new growth fund aimed at scaling promising Indian startups. The Speciale Invest Growth Fund II has a target corpus of between ₹1,400 crore and ₹1,600 crore (approximately $177 million), marking a significant step up in its investment capacity.
Fund Strategy and Investment Focus
According to the firm's executives, the new fund will adopt a dual strategy. Sixty percent of the capital will be allocated for making new investments in deeptech companies, while the remaining forty percent is reserved for follow-on rounds in both new and existing portfolio companies. This approach allows Speciale to back winners from its earlier funds while also bringing new innovators into the fold.
The firm plans to write larger initial cheques ranging from $5 million to $8 million and will actively lead funding rounds. Over the lifetime of the fund, Speciale aims to invest in 12 to 15 select companies. Vishesh Rajaram, co-founder and managing partner, indicated that the first close of the fund is expected sometime in 2026.
"These cheque sizes will also improve over the second and third year of the fund," Rajaram explained. "It allows us that 3x leverage where we'll be able to do round sizes of up to $20 million with just two or three investors."
Bridging the Deeptech Growth Capital Gap
The launch underscores a pivotal shift in the Indian deeptech ecosystem. Vijay Jacob, General Partner at Speciale Invest and a recent addition to the team, highlighted that the capital challenge has moved. "The capital gap for deeptech has moved from pre-seed, seed and Series A to the growth stage," Jacob stated. This new fund is designed specifically to address that gap, providing the substantial capital required for scaling proven technologies.
Speciale's first growth fund, launched in 2023 with a $25 million corpus, served as a validation exercise. "With that fund, we validated a few things in the market: whether there was a need, and the leverage effect with regard to doing our own pro-ratas," said Rajaram. The firm will continue its focus on core sectors like space technology, advanced manufacturing, energy, and health, with emerging interest in quantum computing, semiconductor fabrication, and nuclear energy.
A Maturing Ecosystem and Evolving Investor Base
The deeptech sector in India is witnessing a maturation, evidenced by larger funding rounds even at early stages. This year saw EKA Mobility raise $23 million, Mixx Technologies secure $33 million in Series A, and space intelligence startup EtherealX raise $20 million—rounds that were rare a few years ago.
Amit Nawka, Partner, Deals, at PwC India, commented on this trend: "Deeptech is no longer an early-stage-only story—it’s becoming a growth asset class, attracting larger cheques from investors seeking durable moats and long-term value creation." Increased policy support, such as the government's ₹1 trillion Research, Development and Innovation Scheme, is further fueling investor confidence.
To match the scale of its second growth fund, Speciale Invest is also evolving its investor base, known as Limited Partners (LPs). While traditionally reliant on domestic high-net-worth individuals and family offices, the firm is now engaging with institutional investors. "The risk profile and return profile of a growth fund in deeptech is different," noted Rajaram, indicating that institutional capital is a natural fit for this larger, growth-stage vehicle, though family offices will not be ruled out.
This strategic move by Speciale Invest signals a robust and growing belief in the long-term potential of India's homegrown deep technology innovation, setting the stage for a transformative phase of growth in 2026 and beyond.
