Chennai: In a major push to nurture high-growth startups, the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) announced the launch of a ₹200 crore venture capital (VC) fund titled the 'IITM Alumni Fund' to support its rapidly expanding startup ecosystem.

Unveiled at the IIT Madras Sangam 2025 alumni meet held in Bengaluru on July 5, the fund aims to back pre-Series A and Series A ventures, with a strong focus on startups incubated at IIT Madras. The initiative comes at a time when the number of startups emerging from the institution has seen exponential growth in recent years.

The fund will function as a legally independent entity, run with professional VC governance structures. While it will be separate from the Institute, its primary investments will be in IITM-incubated startups, with capital raised largely from alumni and high-net-worth individuals.

“IIT Madras has incubated over 500 startups valued at over ₹50,000 crore, creating more than 11,000 jobs,” said Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras. “Our first fund of ₹200 crore invites alumni to invest and help grow IITM startups, accelerating our 'Start-up Shatam' vision of incubating 100 deep-tech startups annually.”

Notably, IIT Madras startups Ather Energy and Uniphore have already achieved unicorn status, with Ather recently going public.

Prof. Ashwin Mahalingam, Dean (Alumni and Corporate Relations), added, “We are at the cusp of an entrepreneurship revolution. A focused VC fund backed by alumni is critical to scale our impact.”

Unlike traditional VC funds, IITM Alumni Fund will have active support from the Institute in terms of ecosystem access and strategic engagement, ensuring a virtuous cycle of incubation and investment.