Ajay Kumar, who retired as India’s defence secretary in 2022, has taken a initiative in the venture capital industry by setting up a new firm, Mounttech Growth Fund. The The fund will focus on early-stage start-ups in the burgeoning defence, aerospace and deeptech sectors.
- Ajay Kumar’s INR 250 Cr (around $29.9 Mn) MountTech Growth Fund has secured approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)
- The scheme of the fund is called Kavach
- Kumar will head the fund as the chairman, and former senior telecom industry executive Ravi Sethia will join as the chief executive
Kumar stated that central government’s initiatives including the Defence ministry’s flagship programme for startups-
Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) has increased manifold the opportunities to build startups in the defence and aerospace sectors in the country.
Ther 250 INR crore fund has secured approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has received subscriptions worth Rs 280 crore and is set to invoke green-shoe option for another Rs 250 crore, people aware of the matter told ET.
Ajay Kumar will be the chairman of the fund with senior telecom industry executive Ravi Sethia acting as CEO.
The firm has also on boarded top retired armed forces officers as advisors, in addition to eminent industrialists and business professionals. These include former Indian Air Force chief RKS Bhaduria and former Indian Navy vice chief SN Ghormade.
Primarily sponsored by Suryakant Dalmia, board member of Dalmia Securities, the fund includes multiple other high-net-worth individuals and domestic family offices as limited partners or sponsors.
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Under the iDEX programme, the defence ministry provides grants to startups building in these sectors, and offers contracts to develop products and technologies for use by Indian defence forces.
According to government data, it is reported that iDEX is currently engaged with about 400 start-ups and small scale enterprises. So far, the government has cleared procurement of 35 items, worth up to RS 2,000 crore.
“Almost two-thirds of the defence procurement is from domestic companies…and this presents a huge opportunity for Indian startups to build and scale,” Kumar told ET, adding that the new fund would soon finalise its first investment in the space sector.
Kumar stated that the fund would forge tie-ups with other specialised venture capital firms and incubators at academic institutions.
