IAN Backs 50 Deep-Tech Startups with INR 625 Cr Funding

IAN Group has deployed nearly INR 625 crore across about 50 deep-tech startups over the past two decades, signalling a strong and sustained focus on advanced technology ventures in India.

According to co-founder Padmaja Ruparel, these investments now account for around 46 percent of the group’s overall portfolio, reflecting a steady shift toward science-led innovation.

The early-stage investor has backed companies across sectors such as spacetech, semiconductors, biotech, medtech, robotics, advanced engineering and agritech. Notable investments include D-Propulse Aerospace, EndureAir Systems, Skylark Drones, InterCosmos and Manastu Space. Its largest single deep-tech investment so far has been INR 123 crore in Dhruva Space.

IAN’s deep-tech journey began over a decade ago with its first such investment in 2012, when it funded a Delhi-based medtech device startup. The company later gained traction in US hospitals and was acquired by a US-based firm, delivering nearly fourfold returns over 11 years. “It was a medtech device built in India in a hospital research organisation. It was very unknown that a research product would become a business at that time,” Ruparel said. “We came in with the first cheque, saw it grow into a good product, and eventually a global major bought it.”

She added that this early success encouraged the firm to deepen its focus on deep-tech investments well before the segment gained prominence in India. “Deeptech today is a word that we have been hearing for the last few years, but companies have been doing very good work for a long time,” she said. “The shift now is that research and science are no longer seen only as academic pursuits but as product development platforms.”

IAN is currently deploying capital from its USD 100 million Alpha Fund, of which nearly half has already been invested in around 20 companies. The fund is expected to support about 30 startups in total, while reserving capital for follow-on rounds.

The group’s portfolio shows manufacturing, hardware and material sciences leading at 31.4 percent, followed by biotech at 24 percent and defence-tech, drone-tech and cybersecurity at 17 percent. Ruparel noted a growing interest in AI-led ventures, which currently make up about 11 percent of investments. “We decided that the longer-gestation companies we would pick up first,” she said.

On broader market conditions, she pointed to geopolitical tensions impacting funding sentiment. “New decisions have slowed down as companies have had to realign their businesses and investors are focused on risk mitigation,” she said.