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Set up at IIM Ahmedabad in 2002, IIMA Ventures (formerly known as CIIE) is the epicenter of The Innovation Continuum, spread across Incubation, Acceleration, Insights and Capital.
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2024 marked a new chapter in our journey as we step forward with a fresh identity - IIMA Ventures - reflecting our roots in the rich legacy of our institutional DNA and founding purpose of nurturing groundbreaking entrepreneurial talent in India.
We launched this rebranded identity at the IIMA Entrepreneurship Summit, which brought together the entrepreneurial ethos and ecosystem at IIMA. The summit charted a roadmap for IIMA's entrepreneurial ecosystem by exploring key trends in venture funding, the evolving needs of founders, and the critical role of academia in driving innovation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGLarDW7wh8
This year, the funding ecosystem has shown signs of maturity, with investor confidence returning to India as startups continue to paint a promising narrative. Our portfolio demonstrated exceptional momentum, collectively raising over $66M in follow-on funding, a 20% rise from $55M in 2023.
A standout moment was our portfolio company Agnikul's remarkable achievement – successfully conducting a sub-orbital test-flight of Agnibaan, their home-built 3D-printed semi-cryogenic rocket, launched from their own pad at Sriharikota. 5C Network, a pioneer in AI-driven diagnostic services, achieved a significant milestone by partnering with Nvidia to revolutionize Indian healthcare. Jensen Huang spotlighted their work on the pioneering Hindi Large Language Model (LLM)—a groundbreaking initiative that leverages AI to bridge India’s linguistic and cultural diversity. Piersight, incubated at our premises, is set to the launch their demo satellite in December this year under the ambitious Varuna Mission, which is set to transform maritime monitoring with advanced SAR technology.
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We remain dedicated to deepening our focus on catalyzing innovation across our three core themes.
We continue to explore newer sectors with our Deep Tech Accelerator Fund, set up in partnership with SIDBI. We expanded to investments in the semiconductors, advanced materials and aerospace segments, further strenghtening our expertise in deep-science and break-through innovation. Additionally, building on top of our published Digital Therapeutics (DTx) thesis last year, we are closing our first investment in cognitive health in 2024.
On the Sustainability side, building on the learnings from our successful partnership with Accenture in the past, we launched the India ClimateTech Initiative in partnership with Mitsubishi UFG Financial Group (MUFG). This year, we backed startups building alternate battery technology, and solutions democraztizing the use of Graphene.
2024 saw the return of the Bharat Inclusion Initiative, with support from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. In addition to our focus on Financial Inclusion from the first edition, we have expanded our scope of impact with livelihood and skilling focussed-solutions. The companies supported under the first cohort are enabling productive credit, preparing nurses for competitive exams, solving for poor credit scores, and upskilling for gig workers.
Our Studio program, launched this year, saw its first success with Produktiv.ai emerging from stealth. We also published our learnings from the exhaustive thesis-building exercise with the Produktiv.ai founders in the AI for Enterprises report. We continue to invite applications from passionate founders looking to kick-start their entrepreneurship journeys and co-build in stealth under this program.
Beyond our core themes, we remained steadfast in supporting startups built by the IIMA ecosystem, welcoming exciting additions like Culture Circle (hype and luxury products marketplace), Eternz (curated jewellery marketplace) and Oolka (simplifying credit management). We witnessed enthusiastic participation from IIMA students for the IIMAvericks Program, and have selected 6 students for fellowships and 4 students for internships under the program.
Let’s dive deeper into the breakthroughs and initiatives that marked our 2024 journey.
Catalyzing Capital
Our portfolio demonstrated remarkable momentum in 2024, collectively raising over $66M in follow-on funding from marquee venture capital firms, family offices, angels, and corporates.
Let’s dive into some of the notable portfolio funding rounds this year, and their progress beyond.