IIMA Ventures, Jaivel Launch Fund for Defence, Aerospace Startups

• IIMA Ventures and Jaivel Aerospace launch an acceleration fund to support 8–10 early-stage aerospace and defence startups
• Startups will receive up to $400,000 in funding, mentorship, development facilities, and access to Jaivel’s global manufacturing network
• The fund is backed by balance sheet capital, not an AIF, and comes amid growing investor interest in India’s aerospace and defence sector

IIMA Ventures, the technology-focused investment platform founded by IIM Ahmedabad, has partnered with Jaivel Aerospace to launch an aerospace and defence acceleration fund targeting early-stage startups.

The initiative aims to support 8–10 startups working on autonomy, advanced materials, advanced manufacturing, and secure communication systems. IIMA Ventures and Jaivel Aerospace provide early-stage funding to defence and aerospace startups, boosting venture capital and startup investment in India.

Each selected startup will receive up to $400,000 in pre-seed or seed funding, along with mentorship, access to development facilities, and Jaivel Aerospace’s global manufacturing network.

Vipul Patel, partner at IIMA Ventures stated, "Within the deeptech space, aerospace and defence are areas we’ve already worked in. With this new fund, we want to expand and double down on that portfolio. We’re focusing more on pre-seed and seed opportunities—essentially the first institutional cheque. That’s the approach we’re taking as we look to add new companies in this space".

The fund is structured using balance sheet capital from both Jaivel Aerospace and IIMA Ventures, rather than as an Alternative Investment Fund (AIF), with plans to expand the fund and onboard additional corporate partners in the future.

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Patel added, "As there are other partners who will join, the overall size and number of companies we can back increase over the period".

IIMA Ventures has invested in aerospace and defence startups in the past such as Sagar Defence, ePlane, Ideaforge, and Nabhdrishti, and space-tech ventures like Agnikul, PierSight, Galaxeye, and Bellatrix. Jaivel Aerospace is a company founded by Vipul Vachhani, and it does design, engineering, and advanced manufacturing work for aerospace clients globally.

The start of the fund comes due to growing investor interest in India’s aerospace and defence space, certainly due to government initiatives regarding self-reliance as well as significant export growth and recent geopolitical activities.

Vipul Vachhani said, "Together with IIMA Ventures, we aim to create the platform for startups to leverage Jaivel Aerospace’s international advanced manufacturing network as well as build a robust execution model from the start. Startups will also benefit from Jaivel Aerospace’s design, engineering and manufacturing ecosystem to accelerate time-to-market".

Earlier this year, IIMA Ventures announced that it would invest from a Rs 40 crore corpus in 30 deeptech startups in partnership with the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).