BYT Capital to invest in 18-20 deeptech startups with new Rs 180 crore fund

Deeptech-focused venture capital firm BYT Capital has launched its maiden Rs 180 crore early-stage fund. More than half the corpus has already been subscribed, and the firm expects to reach its final close by the third quarter of 2026.

The Bengaluru-based Category II AIF, founded by angel investor Amit Chand and Faad Capital co-founder Dinesh Kumar, will invest in 18-20 deeptech and frontier engineering startups. Initial cheques will range from Rs 3 crore to Rs 6 crore, with 55% of the fund reserved for follow-on rounds. BYT has begun evaluating companies and expects to deploy its first investments by the end of December.

The fund will back IP-led innovation emerging from research labs and engineering ecosystems, with sectoral focus areas including space technology, life sciences, robotics, clean energy, materials, quantum, defence, and advanced engineering. The firm said it is particularly interested in ventures that can convert lab-stage research into market-ready products with global demand.

“India is sitting at a deep-tech inflection point. The quality of talent returning from global deep-tech hubs is very high, and institutes are far more open to licensing and spinouts,” Chand told ET.

He said limited partners worldwide are showing growing preference for sector-thesis funds over sector-agnostic vehicles, as deeper expertise is needed to generate outperformance.

He added that scientific entrepreneurship in India is entering a phase where it can create companies with global relevance, strengthening industrial and strategic capabilities across critical sectors

 BYT noted that deeptech activity in Tier-2 and Tier-3 regions is also rising. “A lot of incubation centres across IITs and IISc now have startups coming from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. We are seeing strong deal flow from these pockets,” Chand said.

BYT Capital plans to support founders from early experimentation through to global commercialisation, building a long-term platform for frontier technology originating in India.