Aum Ventures Marks ₹225 Crore First Close of Its ₹750 Crore Deep-Tech Fund II — Led by Foreign LPs

Early-stage investor Aum Ventures has taken the first step in raising its largest pool yet for India's hard-tech founders. The firm announced the first close of its India Innovation Fund II at ₹225 crore (about $23.6 million), roughly 30% of a targeted ₹750 crore (about $80 million) corpus. What sets this close apart is where the money came from: more than 65% of the capital was contributed by international limited partners — an unusual profile for an Indian seed-stage deep-tech vehicle, which typically leans on domestic family offices and institutions.

A global cap table for an India fund

According to the firm, the foreign backing spans family offices, entrepreneurs and strategic investors from markets including the United States and the Middle East. For a seed-stage deep-tech fund, that composition is notable. Overseas capital has long flowed into India's consumer-internet and fintech stories, but frontier hardware — with its longer timelines and heavier capital needs — has historically been harder to sell to international LPs. Aum's close suggests global investors are increasingly willing to underwrite India's IP-led technology builders directly at the earliest stage.

Where the money will go

The India Innovation Fund II is structured as a Category II Alternative Investment Fund and plans to back 25 to 30 startups over a five-year investment window. Aum has said it will focus on globally competitive, IP-led companies across spacetech, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, aerospace, defence technology, robotics, energy transition and advanced manufacturing. Initial cheques are expected to run from roughly $750,000 to $2 million, with room for follow-on participation through later Series A and B rounds — a structure designed to let the firm double down on winners as they mature.

Building on a Skyroot-backed record

Founded in 2022, Aum Ventures has deployed around $30 million across two dozen companies to date. Its portfolio includes Skyroot Aerospace — the launch-vehicle startup that went on to become India's first spacetech unicorn — alongside ventures such as Azimuth AI and Sanyark Space. That early exposure to a marquee space name gives the firm a credential few domestic seed funds can match when courting both founders and cross-border LPs. General partner Nisha Shah is leading the new fund's investments.

Why the foreign tilt matters

Aum's raise lands amid a broader maturation of India's deep-tech financing stack. Government vehicles such as the ₹1-lakh-crore RDI fund of funds and a wave of dedicated private funds — from Piper Serica's Bharat Tech Fund to Inflexor's third fund — have expanded the domestic capital available to hardware founders over the past year. A seed fund pulling the majority of its first close from abroad adds a different signal: that India's frontier-tech thesis is now legible to international investors early in a company's life, not merely at growth stage. If that pattern holds, it could widen the funnel of capital reaching the country's most research-intensive startups.

Sources

• DealStreetAsia: https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/aum-ventures-deep-tech-fund-491689
• YourStory: https://yourstory.com/2026/08/aum-ventures-raises-225-crore-first-close-for-deeptech-fund
• Indian Startup News: https://indianstartupnews.com/news/aum-ventures-raises-rs-225-crore-in-first-close-of-rs-750-crore-india-innovation-fund-ii-12246635
• Inc42: https://inc42.com/buzz/aum-ventures-marks-first-close-of-%E2%82%B9750-cr-deeptech-focused-fund-at-%E2%82%B9225-cr/
• IndianWeb2: https://www.indianweb2.com/2026/08/aum-ventures-secures-225-cr-ist-close.html