Startup incubator IIMA Ventures is bullish on three broad innovation frontiers, including deeptech and frontier tech, digital acceleration and decarbonisation, its CEO and Managing Partner Priyanka Chopra tells S Shanthi in an interview. Backed by the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA), the firm operates a mix of balance sheet capital and partner-led funds. Its notable investments include Razorpay, Agnikul, Fourth Partner Energy, Biosense, and IdeaForge. Excerpts:
How many investments have you made so far this financial year? Tell us about your upcoming investments.
We plan to make roughly 50 investments across our broad themes of deeptech, climate tech and digitisation by the end of FY26. Across all our thematic areas of focus, we have already crossed the halfway mark of our investment targets for this financial year. Overall, since our launch in 2002, we have invested in over 400 startups at pre-seed and seed stages. Cumulatively, startups supported by us have raised follow-on capital of over $3 billion.
What is the cheque size you are looking at for these investments?
We provide a mix of equity and grant-based funding at the pre-seed and seed stages, with cheques ranging from $5,000 to $250,000. Early last year, we launched our DeepTech Accelerator Fund in partnership with SIDBI. Recently, we have announced a Space and Defence Accelerator Fund in partnership with Jaivel Aerospace, focusing on spacetech, aerospace and defence startups. The average cheque size for both of these initiatives is in the $250,000 range. However, we must recognise that building and scaling disruptive startups require deliberate and persistent work. We do this through four strategic levers that go much beyond the cheques we deploy — coaching, connects for market access, helping raise co-investments and follow-on investment, and community building.
What are the sectors you are bullish on at present?
We are distinctly bullish on three broad innovation frontiers, including deeptech and frontier tech, spanning spacetech, semiconductors, robotics, advanced materials, defence and aerospace; digital acceleration, which encompasses AI, fintech, and digital public infrastructure; and sustainability, including agritech, clean mobility, sustainable value chains, and decarbonisation. These sectors align closely with IIMA Ventures’ core focus themes of deeptech, digitisation, and climate tech. At IIMA Ventures, our thesis is anchored in India’s inherent strengths: a vast talent pool, access to rich and nuanced datasets, strong R&D capabilities, a rapidly expanding deeptech ecosystem, and robust policy tailwinds. Our work gives us a front-row seat to this once-in-a-generation transformation, and we take pride in supporting startups during their crucial 0-1 journey while helping reduce risk during this foundational phase.
What are the key things you look at before investing?
At IIMA Ventures, we focus on founder quality and insight, market potential, and long-term growth. We seek out founders and businesses that are designed to last and generate enduring value, not just quick gains. At the early stages when we come in, the founding team is often the single most important factor, because the product and market can still evolve. We look for founders who have a unique insight into the problem they are looking to solve and an evidence-backed view of the market. The founder’s motivation and capability to solve the problem become critical to assess. But even the best founders can’t build a big company in a small market. Therefore, evaluating the market potential becomes equally important. We also look at innovation and defensibility.
What are some of your recent bets you are particularly proud of?
We take particular pride in some of our recent investments that reflect our conviction-led approach and our ability to spot transformative ideas early. Nabhdrishti Aerospace, India’s first micro gas turbine company, is a standout example. Considered too risky by commercial investors, we were its first and only institutional backer. Our conviction was validated when Accel led a $3-million round recently. We are now the largest spacetech investor in India, most recent case-in-point being Orbitt Space, which is developing electric propulsion systems for satellites.
On the sustainability front, we have investments spanning the entire battery technology value chain — from advanced components and alternative chemistries to cell and battery manufacturing, recycling, and innovative battery swapping and financing solutions. A recent investment, Cancrie, is converting industrial waste into high-performance nano-carbon for batteries and energy storage systems. We are equally excited about our AI portfolio.
As someone watching the startup investment space closely, what are some of the favourable investment trends?
The talent pool today is deeper and more experienced than ever before. Founders now range from student innovators to seasoned professionals and domain experts who bring operational rigour and market insight to their ventures. The rise of second-time founders, entrepreneurs who have exited earlier ventures and are returning with sharper focus and ambition, is further strengthening the ecosystem.
For early-stage investors, one of the most exciting shifts is in deeptech. India’s great science and engineering institutions, the IITs and the IISc, continue to anchor this pipeline, but we are also seeing centres such as C-CAMP in life sciences, ISRO and IN-SPACe in spacetech, and DRDO labs in defence expanding it. The policy environment is equally supportive. The recently announced Research and Development Innovation Fund (RDIF) underlines India’s intent to back science-led entrepreneurship. Meanwhile, India’s public digital infrastructure continues to create fertile ground for inclusive innovation and
we see founders targeting deeper problems in financial services, healthcare, and livelihoods. The most visible sign of maturity is the evolving exit ecosystem, with a growing number of IPOs demonstrating that Indian startups can build, scale, and list successfully. Together, these shifts mark a new phase for India’s startup story, one defined by both deeper innovation and global ambition.
