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Bharat Innovation Fund
Bharat Innovation Fund backs fearless entrepreneurs building tech innovation-led companies of consequence from India. It focuses on IP-driven deep-tech...
Overview
Bharat Innovation Fund backs fearless entrepreneurs building tech innovation-led companies of consequence from India. It focuses on IP-driven deep-tech solutions. The team aims to build deeptech and innovation focused startups from India, for the world.
General information
Firm type
Private Equity
Year founded
2017
Location
Region
Asia
Country
India
City
Ahmedabad
Corporate office
Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Principals
Ashwin Raguraman
Co-founder & Managing Partner
Shyam Menon
Co-founder & Partner
Kunal Khattar
Co-founder & Partner
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who makes investment decisions at Bharat Innovation Fund?
The three co-founders — Ashwin Raguraman, Shyam Menon, and Kunal Khattar — serve as the fund's managing partners and lead investment decisions. They are supported by a technical investment committee that draws on domain expertise from IIM Ahmedabad's faculty and research network, a structural advantage given the fund's embedding within the CIIE ecosystem.
What is the relationship between Bharat Innovation Fund and IIM Ahmedabad?
Bharat Innovation Fund operates in partnership with the Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) at IIM Ahmedabad. This is not a passive affiliation: CIIE serves as the fund's anchor, providing a proprietary pipeline of deep-tech startups emerging from the institute's incubation programs, and the fund often acts as the first institutional cheque for these ventures.
Does Bharat Innovation Fund invest only in India-based startups?
The fund's primary geographic focus is India, and all known portfolio companies are incorporated in India. However, the underlying technologies — spanning enterprise software, UAV platforms, computer vision, and clean energy — are built with global use cases in mind, and several portfolio companies pursue international licensing or export strategies.
Which sectors does Bharat Innovation Fund explicitly avoid?
The fund's mandate is explicitly centered on IP-driven deep technology. Its public portfolio and stated strategy indicate no exposure to consumer internet, social media, quick commerce, or other asset-light B2C models that dominate generalist Indian VC portfolios. The firm's de facto exclusion is any startup where technology defensibility is not the primary moat.
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