Team StartupCity

• Speciale Invest launches Growth Fund II worth Rs 1,400 crore, targeting early-stage deep tech startups ready to scale commercially.
• The fund plans to back 12-15 startups with $5-8 million each, focusing on sectors like spacetech, advanced manufacturing, quantum computing, health, energy storage, and defense technologies.
• Vijay Jacob joins as General Partner to lead growth-stage investments, continuing Speciale’s track record of supporting deep tech firms like Agnikul Cosmos, Ultraviolette, and QNu Labs.

Speciale Invest, which focuses on deep tech venture capital, has launched a new Growth Fund II worth Rs 1,400 crores to invest in early-stage startups. The investment vehicle hopes to fill an imperative requirement in the funding space for deep tech startups in India that have progressed beyond validating their technology but still haven’t attained predictable revenue streams.

The fund will support 12-15 startups that invest an average of $5-8 million, moving from a point where the technology is ready to roll out to a commercially viable model. In regards to fund investors, it is expected that there would be a more institutional kind, as opposed to the family offices who invest in startups.

According to a Chennai-based venture capital firm, it will also keep expanding its areas of interest that entail spacetech, advanced manufacturing, energy storage, quantum computing, health and biosciences, and defense technologies. Substantially large sums will also be invested in unmanned systems and maritime surveillance.

The company has also brought Vijay Jacob, a general partner, to head the growth stage investments. Vijay, a former founder of NewQuest Capital, emphasized that this fund will exclusively invest in deeptech companies that have overcome scientific risks and are prepared to compete globally by focusing on capacity buildup.

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Three months ago, the fund had closed Fund III at Rs 600 crore, thereby overcoming the initial target of Rs 500 crore. This fund focused on investing in sovereign technologies such as intellectual property. They aimed at investing in 18-20 startups in the realms of AI infrastructure, spacetech, climatetech, quantum systems, advanced manufacturing technologies, along with dual-use defence technologies, with fund sizes varying between Rs 7-10 crores.

Speciale in its past three initial funds, which were launched in 2017, 2021, and 2025, has funded around 35 start-ups. The list of Speciale’s portfolio start-ups comprises Agnikul Cosmos, GalaxEye, ePlane Company, Ultraviolette, CynLr, and QNu Labs. Speciale has made nine M&A exits. Speciale plans to raise its average stake in start-ups to 15% in Fund III, which is higher in comparison to 5% in Fund I and 10% in Fund II.