Speciale Invest, a deep-science and technology-focused venture capital firm, on Thursday announced the launch of a $156 million (about Rs 1,400 crore) growth-stage fund to back promising deep-tech companies.
The new fund will invest in Series A and later-stage startups across sectors such as advanced manufacturing, space technologies, climate and energy, health and biosciences, and artificial intelligence.
The fund aims to support companies that have already achieved technical validation and are ready to scale into meaningful, revenue-generating businesses, it said in a statement.
In August, Speciale Invest closed its third fund at Rs 600 crore, surpassing its initial target of Rs 500 crore. That vehicle is expected to invest in 18–20 companies between 2025 and 2029, with more than half of the corpus reserved for follow-on investments. Initial cheque sizes typically range from Rs 7–10 crore, with flexibility to invest higher amounts.
Founded in 2017 by Vishesh Rajaram and Arjun Rao, Speciale Invest has been an early institutional backer of companies such as Anubal Fusion, Agnikul Cosmos, Galaxeye Space, Inspecity, Qnu Labs, Mindgrove Tech, Morphing Machines, ePlane Company, Fermbox Bio and Peptris AI, among others.
“Deep-tech has never been about chasing short-term cycles,” said Vishesh Rajaram, founding partner at Speciale Invest. “It is about building institutions that can compound value over decades—often starting with uncomfortable science risk and long timelines.”
The firm has also appointed Vijay Jacob as general partner to lead growth-stage investments. Jacob, a former founding member at NewQuest Capital (now TPG NewQuest), brings nearly two decades of experience across private equity, venture capital and public markets, and has led investments, portfolio strategy and exits across multiple sectors and geographies.
“India has done a fantastic job over the last ten years in emerging as one of the frontiers of deep-tech innovation,” says Vijay Jacob, General Partner at Speciale Invest. “The next challenge is scaling—moving from feasibility to viability. Speciale Invest will extend the work done in the seed stage to the growth stage – now supporting founders and companies as they move from validated technology to commercially scalable, profitable, globally competitive institutions.”
