Ashish Kumar, co-founder of Fundamentum Partnership, has just unveiled a massive ₹2,000 crore fund dedicated entirely to AI and deeptech startups. The new vehicle, called F2A (Fundamentum Frontier Advisors), comes with an additional ₹1,000 crore reserved for co-investments, effectively making it a ₹3,000 crore bet on India's most ambitious deep-tech founders. And here's the kicker — anchoring the entire fund is none other than Nandan Nilekani, the Infosys co-founder and one of India's most respected tech icons.
This is not seed funding or idea-stage money. Fundamentum is writing cheques between ₹40 crore and ₹90 crore per startup, targeting only 12–15 companies over the next three years. To qualify, startups need to be at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6 or 7 — meaning their technology already works, and they either have existing revenue or clear visibility to it within 12 to 18 months. In plain English: this fund is for founders who are past the lab and ready to scale.
The fund is casting a wide but focused net across three big buckets: consumer AI, enterprise AI, and physical AI (think drones, robotics, and autonomous systems). Beyond pure AI, Fundamentum will also look at semiconductors, quantum computing, spacetech, and energy transition startups. So whether you are building a satellite, a next-gen chip, or a robot that can pack boxes, this fund wants to talk.
To lead the investment strategy, Ashish Kumar has brought in Debraj Banerjee as General Partner. Banerjee joins from SIDBI Venture Capital, where he spent years backing deep-tech and manufacturing startups — a crucial credential because deeptech requires investors who understand hardware, patents, and long development cycles, not just app downloads and monthly active users.
"We are seeing a structural shift in how AI and Deeptech are being built and adopted across sectors," said Ashish Kumar. "India today has the right combination of talent, ambition, policy and capital, and this is the moment to dedicate institutional focus to companies building at the frontier." Nandan Nilekani added, "Platforms combining long-term thinking with strong execution capabilities can play an important role in supporting this evolution. I am excited to support Ashish and the team to further Fundamentum Frontier's AI and DeepTech strategy."
For Indian founders, especially young ones, this is a game-changer. For years, deep-tech builders had to look westward — to Silicon Valley or Singapore — for serious growth capital. Now there is a ₹2,000 crore domestic cheque waiting for them, backed by Nilekani's credibility and Fundamentum's operational experience. Gen Z founders building drones in Bengaluru or quantum algorithms in Hyderabad no longer have to pitch 50 angels for ₹50 lakh each. They can walk into one room and walk out with ₹90 crore.
The bottom line is simple: Ashish Kumar and Nandan Nilekani are making a loud, clear bet that India's deep-tech moment has finally arrived. With F2A, they are putting real money behind that belief — not just hype. And for the founders building India's next generation of AI, robotics, and semiconductor companies, the door just swung wide open.
