Defence startup-focused early-stage investment firm Jamwant Ventures Tuesday said it has marked the first close of its angel fund, three months after the launch.
This is the maiden investment vehicle of the firm that has been co-founded by former Indian Navy officers Navneet Kaushik and Kartik Gopal. The firm did not disclose the amount raised.
Kaushik, who has served as a director and a senior scientist with the Technology Development Board, is an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur, the Naval College of Engineering and the National Defence Academy (NDA).
Gopal is also an alumnus of the NDA and has worked for around 25 years in supply chain management, enterprise resource planning systems and quality management processes.
Jamwant Venture Fund, registered as an angel fund, aims to invest in startups working on indigenous defence technologies. It received SEBI approval for a category-I alternative investment fund in April 2024.
“It is encouraging to see that investors can now see the potential in Defence & Aerospace sectors and there are now funds that have defence as their special focus. Considering the response from the investors and the criticality of the sector, the fund is in the process of increasing the size of the fund to enable wider participation,” said Kaushik.
The fund also counts Manick Wadhwa, director at SKI Capital, as an advisor as well as general partner (GP).
“At Jamwant Venture, we not only intend to provide financial support to the startups but also the much-needed mentorship assistance that is required at early stages,” said Gopal. “While iDEX, Aditi and other startup schemes have made the defence requirements more accessible, there is still a need for mentorship for the startups to deliver on the challenges.”
In terms of its average investment size, the fund aims to invest Rs 50 lakh-1 crore across pre-seed, seed, and Series-A rounds in the spaces such as deeptech, defence and aerospace.
