Early-stage venture capital firm Aum Ventures has launched its second investment vehicle, India Innovation Fund II, with a corpus of $80 million (approximately ₹750 crore) to support startups operating in high-growth frontier technology sectors, including space technology, semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), defense technology, and other innovation-driven industries.
The new fund underscores Aum Ventures’ commitment to strengthening India’s DeepTech ecosystem and backing founders building transformative technologies with global potential.
Commenting on the launch, Chetan Mehta, Founding Partner, Aum Ventures, said, “India is at a unique inflection point where policy support, talent, and capital availability are converging to create unprecedented opportunities for DeepTech and innovation.”
India Innovation Fund II will primarily focus on pre-seed and seed-stage startups. The fund plans to deploy initial investments ranging from $750,000 to $2 million while also reserving capital for follow-on investments through Series A and Series B funding rounds. Through this strategy, Aum Ventures aims to support approximately 25 to 30 portfolio companies.
In addition, the firm has appointed Nisha Shah as General Partner for Fund II. Shah brings extensive experience from leadership roles within a large family office and has worked across venture capital, private equity, and consulting firms. Her expertise will strengthen the fund’s investment strategy and portfolio management capabilities.
Founded in 2022, Aum Ventures has quickly established itself as an active investor in India’s emerging technology landscape. To date, the firm has deployed approximately $30 million across 24 early-stage startups spanning sectors such as space technology, semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and advanced engineering.
Its portfolio includes notable companies such as Skyroot Aerospace, Cosmoserve Space and Sanyark Space, all of which are contributing to India’s growing space technology ecosystem. In the semiconductor sector, Aum Ventures became the first investor in Azimuth AI, a company developing a custom system-on-chip (SoC) platform designed to address next-generation computing requirements.
The firm has also recorded a successful exit within its portfolio. Sharang Shakti, a defense robotics startup backed by Aum Ventures, was recently acquired by LAT Aerospace, a company founded by Deepinder Goyal, former Chief Executive Officer of Zomato parent company Eternal.
The launch of India Innovation Fund II comes at a time when India’s technology and innovation ecosystem is benefiting from increased support from both public and private capital. Several government-led initiatives are accelerating research, development, and commercialization across strategic sectors.
These initiatives include the $12 billion Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund, the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, and various spacetech-focused programs designed to strengthen India’s manufacturing, innovation and technology capabilities.
Industry experts believe that the convergence of policy support, entrepreneurial talent, research capabilities, and venture capital is creating a favorable environment for DeepTech startups. As technologies such as AI, semiconductors, aerospace, and defense become increasingly critical to economic growth and national competitiveness, investors are directing more capital toward innovation-driven businesses.
Through India Innovation Fund II, Aum Ventures aims to capitalize on these opportunities while supporting founders who are building globally competitive technology companies from India.
The fund’s launch also reflects growing investor confidence in India’s ability to produce breakthrough innovations across sectors that require long development cycles, deep technical expertise, and significant capital investment.
With an $80 million corpus dedicated to sectors such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, space tech, and defense technology, the fund aims to nurture the next generation of innovation-led startups. Supported by favorable government policies, rising capital availability, and a growing pool of technical talent, Aum Ventures is positioning itself to play a key role in shaping India’s future as a global technology and innovation hub.
