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Asset management firm Piper Serica has launched a new Cat II AIF, the Bharat Tech Fund, with a potential size of ₹800 Cr. While the target corpus of the fund is ₹600 Cr, the firm can further exercise a ₹200 Cr greenshoe option.

With the fund, Piper Serica aims to back startups at the Series A and Series B stage operating in segments like semiconductors, AI, spacetech, defence tech, biosciences and fintech infrastructure.

The average size of an investment would be in the range of ₹25-50 Cr. The firm targets to achieve a gross internal rate of return (IRR) of approximately 30% over an average holding period of six years with the fund.

The firm claims to be in active engagements with institutions such as IIT Madras, IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay, IISc Bangalore, and government innovation platforms including iDEX, IN-SPACe and DRDO to zero down on startup investments. Its investment process also combines proprietary screening through our proprietary AI tool called Yoda.ai, which helps it further screen potential investments.

“We invest in founders who demonstrate three things: the technical depth to build something genuinely defensible, the leadership capacity to build an organisation around it, and the commercial discipline to scale it with unit economics that hold,” Piper Serica’s director Ajay Modi said.

Founded in 2003 by Abhay Agarwal, Piper Serica is a Mumbai-based investment management and venture capital firm that invests in both public markets and early-stage startups in India. The firm launched its first early stage VC fund, Piper Serica Angel Fund, in 2022 with a target corpus of ₹100 Cr to double down on the Indian startup ecosystem.

With its first fund, the firm has made 35 investments in startups across segments like semiconductors, AI, spacetech, among others. In the first quarter of 2026, Piper Serica backed seven startups like Mysa, Sensesemi Technologies and Vobiz. Earlier this month, Piper Serica invested $1 Mn in airport operations technology startup Blunav.

The firm is doubling down on Indian deeptech startups amid growing investor interest in the growing segment backed by a strong policy push. A few months back, the Centre relaxed the framework for recognition of deeptech entities by extending the qualification timeline to 20 years.

The government also increased the turnover threshold to ₹300 Cr from ₹200 Cr currently. Tax incentives such as Section 80-IAC profit-linked deductions, ESOP-related TDS deferment, relaxed loss carry-forward norms and GST concessions for eligible incubator-based startups further aim to improve the operating environment.

Besides, deeptech is also a central theme in the government’ second phase of the Startup India Fund of Funds (FoF) scheme with a corpus of ₹10,000 Cr.

The DPIIT expanded the scope of the Startup India FoF by enhancing its coverage to back AIFs supporting deeptech startups engaged in developing solutions that involve longer R&D cycle and higher costs.

Beyond the policy push, deeptech investments have already begun picking pace. In 2025, the segment became the third most funded startup segment, trailing ecommerce and fintech. Startups in the sector raised $500 Mn across 87 deals last year while total investments in the segment stood at $166 Mn in Q1 2026.

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