The Funds Backing Indian AI Now
Quick Summary:
This database covers 52 active global AI, deeptech and defence VC funds investing in Indian pre-seed, seed and Series A startups as of August 2026. Part A covers 35 AI-focused VC funds. Part B covers 17 dedicated deeptech and defence funds. Each entry includes cheque size range, stage eligibility, India contact and a specific approach strategy. Updated August 2026.
PART A: Global and Domestic AI VC Funds
Funds with confirmed India investments, named India GPs or India-specific AI mandates. Ordered from largest cheque to smallest entry point.
S.No | Fund - Linkedin | Cheque Size | Stage | Country | India Contact | How to Approach |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | $2M to $30M | Seed to Series B | USA / Singapore | Karan Mohla | Connect on LinkedIn with enterprise AI traction upfront | |
2 | $2M to $15M | Seed to Series B | USA / India | Pranav Singhvi | Connect on LinkedIn; $5B India commitment 2026 | |
3 | $2M to $20M | Seed to Series B | Netherlands / India | Larry Illg | Apply via prosus.com/ventures; strongest for consumer and fintech AI | |
4 | $3M to $20M | Seed to Series B | USA / India | Vishal Gupta | Cold email with ARR and retention metrics; fintech: IndiaFintech@bvp.com | |
5 | $3M to $20M | Series A to Series C | UAE / USA | Raphael Afaedor | Show strong YoY growth before outreach | |
6 | $1M to $15M | Seed to Series B | India / Singapore | Shailendra Singh | Apply at peakxv.com; $1.3B fresh fund 2026 | |
7 | $1M to $10M | Seed to Series A | India | Ravi Adusumalli / Mukul Arora | Apply via elevationcapital.com; $500M Fund IX focused exclusively on AI 2026 | |
8 | $1M to $10M | Seed to Series A | India / USA | Hemant Mohapatra | Apply at lightspeedvp.com | |
9 | $1M to $10M | Seed to Series A | India | Rajinder Balaraman | Tag on LinkedIn with AI thesis | |
10 | $500K to $10M | Seed to Series A | India / USA | Mahendran Balachandran | Apply at accel.com | |
11 | $500K to $10M | Pre-Seed to Series A | USA | Vinod Khosla | Apply at khoslaventures.com | |
12 | $1M to $8M | Seed to Series A | India | Sudhir Sethi | Apply via chiratae.com | |
13 | $1M to $10M | Seed to Series B | USA / India | No named India GP | Apply via salesforceventures.com; strongest for enterprise AI with Salesforce platform integration | |
14 | $1M to $10M | Seed to Series A | India | Ritesh Banglani | Apply via stellarisvp.com | |
15 | $500K to $5M | Seed to Series A | India / USA | Jishnu Bhattacharjee | Apply via nexusvp.com | |
16 | $500K to $5M | Seed to Series A | India | Vani Kola | Apply via kalaari.com | |
17 | $500K to $5M | Pre-Seed to Series A | India | Pranav Pai | Apply via 3one4capital.com | |
18 | ₹5 Cr to ₹50 Cr | Seed to Series B | India | Kitty Agarwal | Apply via infoedge.in/ventures | |
19 | $500K to $3M | Pre-Seed to Series A | India | Sajith Pai | Apply via blume.vc | |
20 | $500K to $3M | Pre-Seed to Series A | India | Sasha Mirchandani | Apply via kae-capital.com | |
21 | $500K to $3M | Pre-Seed to Series A | India | Sateesh Andra | Apply via endiya.com | |
22 | $500K to $3M | Seed to Pre-Series A | India | Vasant Rao | Apply via shastravc.com | |
23 | $500K to $3M | Pre-Seed to Seed | USA / India | Anup Jain | Connect on LinkedIn; apply via rocketship.vc | |
24 | $500K to $3M | Seed to Series A | India | Rahul Chandra | Apply via arkamvc.com | |
25 | $500K to $2M | Seed to Pre-Series A | India | Apply via website | Apply via together.fund; AI-native first mandate; Bangalore and Silicon Valley | |
26 | $250K to $2M | Pre-Seed to Seed | India / Singapore | Anirudh Singh | Apply via eximiusvc.com | |
27 | $200K to $2M | Pre-Seed to Seed | Singapore / India | Teruhide Sato | Apply via beenext.com | |
28 | ₹1 Cr to ₹8 Cr | Seed to Pre-Series A | India | Ankit Kedia | Apply via capital-a.vc; responds to LinkedIn cold messages | |
29 | ₹50L to ₹5 Cr | Pre-Seed to Seed | India | Sunil Goyal | Apply via yournest.in | |
30 | $400K SAFE | Pre-idea to Pre-Seed | USA / India | Prateek Mehta | Apply at southparkcommons.com; Bangalore office | |
31 | $180K to $500K | Pre-idea to Pre-Seed | India / Global | Raajiv Ranjan | Apply at antler.co/location/india | |
32 | ₹25L to ₹2 Cr | Pre-Seed | India | Vaibhav Domkundwar | DM on LinkedIn or Twitter; fastest response rate | |
33 | ₹25L to ₹75L | Pre-Seed to Angel | India | Ajay Vij | Apply via ajvc.in | |
34 | ₹25L SAFE | Pre-Seed | India | Ninad Karpe | Apply via 100x.vc; rolling applications | |
35 | $500K | Pre-Seed to Seed | USA | Garry Tan | Apply at ycombinator.com twice yearly |
PART B: Dedicated DeepTech and Defence VC Funds
India-domiciled and global funds with a primary or majority thesis in deeptech, spacetech, semiconductors, defence-adjacent technologies, and dual-use hardware. All entries verified from public sources.
S.No | Fund - Linkedin | Cheque Size | Stage | Sector Focus | India Contact | How to Approach |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
36 | $500K to $5M | Seed to Series B | Spacetech, Semiconductors, Defence-adjacent, AI | Raj Atluru | Apply via celesta.vc; spearheaded US-India deeptech alliance; backed Agnikul, IdeaForge, OneCell | |
37 | $100K to $1M (seed); $5M to $8M (growth) | Pre-Seed to Series A | Spacetech, Advanced Manufacturing, Semiconductors, Dual-use Defence, Quantum | Vishesh Rajaram / Arjun Rao | Apply via specialeinvest.com; lead with sovereign-tech or dual-use angle; ₹600 Cr Fund III closed 2025 | |
38 | ₹2 Cr to ₹10 Cr | Seed to Series A | Defence, Aerospace, Deeptech, Space | Ajay Kumar (Chairman) / Ravi Sethi (CEO) | Apply via mounttechindia.com; founded by former Defence Secretary; ₹250 Cr SEBI Category II AIF | |
39 | $500K to $3M | Seed to Series A | Deeptech, IoT, Industrial AI, Robotics, Automation | Jatin Desai | Apply via inflexor.com; thesis sits at intersection of software and industrial hardware | |
40 | $250K to $2M | Pre-Seed to Seed | AI, ML, Robotics, Deep IP | Manish Singhal | Apply via piventures.in; India's pioneering AI and deeptech fund; lead with defensible IP | |
41 | $250K to $1.5M | Pre-Seed to Pre-Series A | Semiconductors, Cybersecurity, Spacetech, Biotech, Defence | Sunder Madakshira | Apply via seafund.in; 80+ years collective leadership experience in deeptech sectors | |
42 | ₹50L to ₹3 Cr | Pre-Seed to Seed | Deeptech, Spacetech, Frontier Tech | Anirudh Damani | Apply via arthavf.com; active co-investor alongside Celesta and Seafund in spacetech rounds | |
43 | $250K to $1.5M | Pre-Seed to Seed | Enterprise Tech, Semiconductors, AI Infrastructure | Naganand Doraswamy | Apply via ideaspring.co; deep domain expertise in chip design and enterprise AI infrastructure | |
44 | ₹3 Cr to ₹6 Cr | Pre-Seed to Seed | Frontier Deeptech, AI, Hardware | Amit Chand (Founder and Managing Partner) / Dinesh Kumar (Co-founder) | Apply via LinkedIn; ₹180 Cr Category II AIF, 55% follow-on reserve, 18 to 20 startups targeted | |
45 | $500K to $3M | Seed to Series A | Deeptech, AI | Abhishek Mittal (Partner) | Apply via angellist.com/s/endurancecapital; backs resilient founders with asset-light deeptech models | |
46 | ₹50L to ₹2 Cr | Pre-Seed to Seed | Defence, Deeptech, Emerging Hardware | Prakash Sangam / Nitin Sharma | Apply via javacapital.in; one of the most active micro-VCs in defence and hardware per Blume 2026 | |
47 | ₹50L to ₹3 Cr | Pre-Seed to Seed | Climate Tech, Deeptech, Fintech Infrastructure | Nithin Kamath / Kailash Nadh | Apply via rainmatter.com; Zerodha-backed, patient capital, fast decisions | |
48 | ₹1 Cr to ₹5 Cr | Seed to Series A | Defence, Deeptech, Drones, Robotics | Bhaskar Majumdar | Apply via unicornindia.in; active iDEX co-investor; backed EyeROV with $5M commitment 2026 | |
49 | $500K to $3M | Seed to Series A | Deeptech, AI, IP-led Tech | Vibhore Sharma (Partner) / Amit Behl (Partner) | Apply via LinkedIn; $75M fund backed by Info Edge and Temasek; focus on science and technology IP-led companies | |
50 | Up to ₹10 Cr | Grant / Non-Dilutive | Defence, Aerospace, Drones, Robotics, Cybersecurity | Defence Innovation Organisation | Apply at idex.gov.in; DISC-14 and ADITI 4.0 open August 2026 with 107 problem statements; no equity taken | |
51 | Up to ₹15 Cr | Pre-Seed to Seed | AI, Computing, Advanced Manufacturing, Space, Defence, Climate, Health | IIT Bombay SINE | Apply via IIT Bombay SINE; ₹250 Cr fund; IIT Bombay affiliation preferred but not mandatory | |
52 | $250K to $2M | Pre-Seed to Seed | Hardware, Deep Science, Physical Products | William Bao Bean | Apply via hax.co; hardware-first deeptech accelerator fund backing physical product companies globally |
Build the Global Pipeline Early
Whether you are building an AI SaaS product, a deeptech hardware company, or a defence-adjacent platform, the funds in this database are writing cheques across all three. The divide between AI and deeptech is narrowing fast, with funds like Elevation Capital and Lightspeed explicitly backing space, defence, robotics and precision manufacturing alongside enterprise AI, and dedicated deeptech funds like Speciale and Seafund adding AI infra to their thesis. Pair this database with related resources on global accelerators for Indian founders, government grants for Indian startups, active Singapore angel investors and global family offices to build a complete capital map before your first outreach.
The founders who close global and deeptech rounds are not the ones with the best decks. They are the ones who approached the right fund at the right stage with materials that spoke directly to that fund's thesis. Create your Backrr profile to keep your fundraising pipeline organised as you work through this list. The capital is there. The question is whether your pitch is ready for it.
![Pre-Seed vs Seed vs Series A: What Indian Investors Expect [2026]](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsblog.backrr.com%2Fuploads%2FHow_Indian_Startups_Built_From_Seed_to_IPO_2026_5c0980f580.png&w=3840&q=75)
