Exfinity Venture Partners Files for Rs 1,100 Crore Fund IV to Expand Deeptech Bets
Bengaluru-based Exfinity Venture Partners is gearing up for its next phase of growth. The deeptech-focused venture capital firm has filed papers with SEBI to launch its fourth fund, aiming to raise a total corpus of Rs 1,100 crore.
The new fund comes at a time when Exfinity is building on strong momentum. The firm has recently completed several high-profile exits and has fully returned capital to investors from its 2016-vintage Fund II. These outcomes have strengthened Exfinity’s confidence in India’s deeptech ecosystem and shaped how it plans to invest going forward.
A Bigger Fund With a Familiar Strategy
While Fund IV is larger than its previous funds, Exfinity does not plan to drastically change its core investment approach. The firm will continue to focus on early-stage investments, backing startups at the idea or early product stage.
However, one key shift is how the capital will be deployed over time. A larger portion of Fund IV will be reserved for follow-on investments in existing portfolio companies. This change reflects the reality of deeptech startups, which often require longer timelines to build products, prove commercial value, and scale globally.
Partners Chinnu Senthilkumar and Jesper Ludolph said that deeptech companies typically take more time than consumer or SaaS startups to reach maturity, making sustained capital support essential.
Cheque Sizes and Ownership Targets
With a larger fund size, Exfinity expects cheque sizes to increase slightly. Despite this, the firm remains committed to its long-standing ownership strategy.
Exfinity will continue targeting a 10 to 20 percent ownership stake in its portfolio companies. This approach allows the firm to remain deeply involved in shaping the company’s journey while still leaving room for future investors as startups raise additional rounds.
Staying Invested for Longer
Another important change with Fund IV is Exfinity’s willingness to stay invested longer in select companies. While earlier funds typically exited around early growth stages, the firm now plans to support promising startups up to Series C when it sees strong long-term value.
Senthilkumar said that in deeptech, much of the value is created later in the company’s life cycle. By staying invested longer, Exfinity hopes to capture more of that upside while helping founders navigate complex technology and market challenges.
Focus Areas for Fund IV
Fund IV will continue Exfinity’s strong focus on core deeptech sectors. These include semiconductors, physical AI, advanced computing systems, robotics, and enterprise AI software.
In addition to these established areas, the new fund will expand into several emerging and future-facing sectors. These include photonics, quantum computing, hydrogen and energy systems, life sciences, climate technology, and mobility.
This broader scope reflects Exfinity’s belief that India is entering a phase where deep scientific research is translating into globally competitive companies.
Why Life Sciences Is Now on Exfinity’s Radar
One notable addition to Fund IV’s focus areas is life sciences. While Exfinity has not previously made significant investments in this sector, the firm now believes the ecosystem is ready.
Ludolph said that more founders with strong research backgrounds are returning to India after working or studying abroad. These founders are building companies rooted in deep science rather than incremental innovation.
In areas like drug discovery, even small improvements in development timelines can create massive value. A reduction of just one month in a drug’s development cycle can have a meaningful impact on cost, speed, and commercial outcomes.
Learning From Past Successes
Exfinity’s decision to raise a larger fund is closely tied to its recent successes. Over the past year, the firm has completed several exits that helped deliver a full capital return to investors in Fund II.
One of the most significant exits was from semiconductor startup Kinara.ai, which was acquired by global chipmaker NXP Semiconductors. The deal is considered one of India’s notable deeptech mergers and acquisitions, highlighting growing global interest in Indian-origin deeptech companies.
Pixis: A Standout Performer
Another major contributor to Fund II’s performance has been adtech startup Pixis. Exfinity executed a partial exit from Pixis, delivering an impressive 60X multiple on invested capital.
Despite the partial exit, Exfinity continues to hold a meaningful stake in the company, reflecting its confidence in Pixis’ long-term growth. The outcome demonstrates how deeptech-adjacent enterprise software can generate strong returns when backed early.
Global M&A Emerging as a Key Exit Route
Shailesh Ghorpade, Managing Partner at Exfinity Venture Partners, said that the firm is seeing a clear shift in how global companies approach innovation.
According to him, repeated acquisitions of Indian deeptech startups by multinational and Fortune 500 companies show that strategic M&A has become a strong and reliable exit path. This route now stands alongside IPOs, late-stage funding rounds, and private equity exits as a viable way for founders and investors to achieve liquidity.
For Indian deeptech founders, this means a broader set of global opportunities and more predictable outcomes.
A Growing Portfolio With Early Convictions Paying Off
To date, Exfinity has invested in around 40 startups. From its third fund alone, the firm has completed 17 investments and expects to announce one more soon.
Several of Exfinity’s early bets are now being validated as global priorities shift. The firm invested in Kinara back in 2018, long before specialised AI chips became a major focus worldwide.
Similarly, Exfinity backed Chara Technologies, a company developing rare-earth-free motors, years before concerns around critical minerals and supply chain dependencies became mainstream.
Looking Ahead
With Fund IV, Exfinity Venture Partners is positioning itself to play a bigger role in shaping India’s deeptech future. The firm’s focus on early-stage innovation, combined with longer holding periods and broader sector coverage, reflects a maturing venture capital strategy.
As global demand for advanced technologies grows and Indian founders continue to build ambitious, science-driven companies, Exfinity believes the next wave of deeptech success stories is just beginning.
