New Delhi, Dec. 11 -- BYT Capital has floated a Rs 180 crore (around $20 million) early-stage venture capital fund to back deeptech and frontier engineering startups, with over half the corpus already subscribed.
The India-focused VC firm, founded by Amit Chand and Dinesh Kumar, plans to invest in 18-20 IP-led ventures rooted in scientific research and advanced engineering.
The Category-II AIF will target lab-to-market startups across space technology, life sciences, robotics, clean energy, and frontier AI. Initial cheques will range from Rs 3 crore to Rs 6 crore, with about 55% of the fund reserved for follow-on rounds. The firm expects to complete the final close by the end of the third quarter of 2026.
Chand, who has more than two decades of experience in corporate strategy, entrepreneurship, and early-stage investing, co-founded the firm with Kumar, who previously backed emerging ventures as co-founder of FAAD Capital.
The Bengaluru-headquartered firm said the fund is backed by India-aligned high-net-worth individuals and family offices seeking long-horizon, high-impact exposure to deeptech.
BYT has already made commitments in space, life sciences, robotics, and clean energy during its first year of operations.
"India is entering a phase where scientific entrepreneurship can deliver venture-scale outcomes," Chand said. "Deeptech is the new infrastructure layer, an unseen but essential foundation for the next era of industrial and economic growth."
BYT Capital plans to build an institutional platform for Indian deeptech over the long term, supporting companies from early scientific development through global commercialization.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.