IAS Turns VC: Former Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar Floats Rs 250 Crore Fund For Drones, Space Tech

Former Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar has floated a Rs 250 crore venture capital fund, keen on investing in startups that create original intellectual property in his allied domains of defense, aerospace, and deeptech.

The fund, called Mounttech Growth Fund, has received interest from investors and has been oversubscribed to the tune of Rs 275 crore. The fund also has a green shoe option of Rs 250 crore, Kumar told NDTV Profit. It is a SEBI-approved alternative investment fund.

The first scheme of the fund is named Kavach, which is Hindi for shield, and will invest in startups in the defence space. "Within the broad space of defence and deeptech, we will identify themes to invest in. We have already listed two themes—drones and space. Both of them are extremely fast-growing areas, and we're looking at other newly emerging areas in this space," he said.

His team of six has already shortlisted startups, but it is premature to state names currently, Kumar said.

"The intent is to focus mostly on technology creation and IPs. We do not intend to go to startups offering services. While they may be doing a wonderful job, our focus is to create new technologies. We'll be looking at startups at an early stage in Series A and thereafter," he said.

Kumar expects the government to support the private sector in technology research and development in the upcoming budget.

"I think the time has come where we need to start trusting our private sector or startups to start doing R&D. The government has found it easier to fund hard infrastructure, but it's the soft R&D assets that can actually galvanise the innovation ecosystem," Kumar said, referring to the Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX), which brings together startups and the Department of Defence Production under the Ministry of Defence.