Speciale Invest bets on Rs 1,400 crore growth fund, targets Indian deep-tech's 'valley of death'
As Indian deep-tech startups move from lab to market, capital often dries up at the most critical stage, aka the 'valley of death'.
- Dec 18, 2025,
- Updated Dec 18, 2025 9:21 AM IST
In a strategic evolution of its eight-year journey, early-stage deep tech specialist Speciale Invest one of India’s leading deeptech investment focused venture capital firms, is preparing to launch Speciale Invest Growth Fund II, a Rs 1,400 crore growth-stage fund, with plans to raise the corpus in 2026, to support the scale-up of India’s most promising deep-tech companies. This move is a direct response to a glaring market gap of the severe shortage of Series A and B capital for deep tech startups that have moved past initial R&D but are not yet self-sustaining.
The announcement, made by the firm's co-founders Vishesh Rajaram and Arjun Rao, underscores a firm conviction that Indian deep tech has moved beyond experimentation into a durable, policy-backed asset class. Having successfully deployed three early-stage funds since 2017 into over 35 companies including Agnikul Cosmos, Inbound Aerospace, Ultraviolette, Peptris, etc; Speciale Invest has identified advanced manufacturing, energy, space, and health as its core sectors.
Talking to Business Today, Rajaram says, "The biggest learning we've had is deep tech is here to stay. It's what will enable India to build from India for the world. Our past experience shows these companies need growth capital before becoming profitable. Today, there is a gap."
In line with this conviction, Speciale Invest has strengthened its leadership by onboarding Vijay Jacob as General Partner, with a dedicated mandate to drive growth-stage investing. A former founding member at NewQuest Capital (now TPG NewQuest), Jacob brings nearly two decades of experience across private equity, venture capital, and public markets, including significant exposure to scaling companies through complex growth phases.
Addressing the ubiquitous 'AI' label, the partners clarified their focus. "If everyone can do it, it's not something we are excited about," said Jacob. They seek AI applications fused with deep domain expertise—where the technology creates a defensible moat, not just a feature layer.
Rao also says that India’s academic ecosystem has reached a point where the quality of research is no longer the bottleneck. “The real challenge now is execution—turning validated science into scalable, competitive businesses,” he adds.
The launch signals a maturation of the Indian deep tech ecosystem. With early-stage funding becoming more available, Speciale Invest is betting that the next critical bottleneck—and thus, opportunity—lies in shepherding proven technologies through the treacherous "valley of death" toward commercial scale. They estimate the journey from founding to growth readiness for a deep tech startup takes seven to eight years, a timeline their new fund is now positioned to support.
In a strategic evolution of its eight-year journey, early-stage deep tech specialist Speciale Invest one of India’s leading deeptech investment focused venture capital firms, is preparing to launch Speciale Invest Growth Fund II, a Rs 1,400 crore growth-stage fund, with plans to raise the corpus in 2026, to support the scale-up of India’s most promising deep-tech companies. This move is a direct response to a glaring market gap of the severe shortage of Series A and B capital for deep tech startups that have moved past initial R&D but are not yet self-sustaining.
The announcement, made by the firm's co-founders Vishesh Rajaram and Arjun Rao, underscores a firm conviction that Indian deep tech has moved beyond experimentation into a durable, policy-backed asset class. Having successfully deployed three early-stage funds since 2017 into over 35 companies including Agnikul Cosmos, Inbound Aerospace, Ultraviolette, Peptris, etc; Speciale Invest has identified advanced manufacturing, energy, space, and health as its core sectors.
Talking to Business Today, Rajaram says, "The biggest learning we've had is deep tech is here to stay. It's what will enable India to build from India for the world. Our past experience shows these companies need growth capital before becoming profitable. Today, there is a gap."
In line with this conviction, Speciale Invest has strengthened its leadership by onboarding Vijay Jacob as General Partner, with a dedicated mandate to drive growth-stage investing. A former founding member at NewQuest Capital (now TPG NewQuest), Jacob brings nearly two decades of experience across private equity, venture capital, and public markets, including significant exposure to scaling companies through complex growth phases.
Addressing the ubiquitous 'AI' label, the partners clarified their focus. "If everyone can do it, it's not something we are excited about," said Jacob. They seek AI applications fused with deep domain expertise—where the technology creates a defensible moat, not just a feature layer.
Rao also says that India’s academic ecosystem has reached a point where the quality of research is no longer the bottleneck. “The real challenge now is execution—turning validated science into scalable, competitive businesses,” he adds.
The launch signals a maturation of the Indian deep tech ecosystem. With early-stage funding becoming more available, Speciale Invest is betting that the next critical bottleneck—and thus, opportunity—lies in shepherding proven technologies through the treacherous "valley of death" toward commercial scale. They estimate the journey from founding to growth readiness for a deep tech startup takes seven to eight years, a timeline their new fund is now positioned to support.