IIT Madras & UIV Launches ‘IITM-Unicorn Frontier Fund I’ worth Rs.600 crores
On February 6, 2026, IIT(Indian Institute of Technology) Madras Research Park(IITMRP), in partnership with Unicorn India Ventures (UIV), launched a ‘IITM-Unicorn Frontier Fund I’, a venture capital fund, worth Rs.600 crores to support deep-technology startups in India.
About IITM-Unicorn Frontier Fund I:
Purpose: The fund aims to promote Intellectual Property (IP)-driven, engineering-intensive startups by providing patient capital to bridge the gap from lab prototypes to commercial products, boosting India’s strategic technology self-reliance.
Fund Structure: The fund includes greenshoe option of Rs.400 crores, bringing the total of Rs.1000 crores, for a tenure of 10 years extendable by 2 years.

• It plans to invest in over 25 startups and will allocate about 60% for initial investments and 40% for follow-on funding.

Focus Sectors: It includes robotics, space technology, defence technology, semiconductors, medtech and other strategic technologies.
Investment Stages: It will be primarily invested in startups at Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) 3-4 (validated technology ready for scaling efforts), TRL 5-7 (mid-stage development), TRL 7-9 (market-ready technologies).