Ganapathy Subramaniam, formerly of Celesta Capital, and Mathew Cyriac, previously with the Blackstone Group, have announced the launch of Yali Capital, a deeptech-focused venture fund. The fund, which has a target corpus of Rs 810 crore (including a Rs 310 crore greenshoe option), aims to invest in cutting-edge sectors such as chip design, robotics, genomics, smart manufacturing, aerospace, and AI.
Speaking at the launch event in Bengaluru, Subramaniam highlighted the fund’s commitment to deep mentorship for startups, supported by globally recognized Limited Partners (LPs) and advisors. “By September of this year, we plan to have invested in at least four startups,” he stated.
Yali Capital is a SEBI-approved category 2 Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) with a strategic focus on deeptech. The fund has already approved investments in four deeptech companies and aims to finalize these investments by the third quarter of 2024.
Cyriac emphasized the fund’s mission to create a robust ecosystem for deeptech companies, aiding them in business building as well as providing capital. “We see great potential in deeptech, especially with the advancement of AI, presenting significant opportunities,” said Subramaniam.
The managing partners, along with advisor Lip-Bu Tan, who is also the chairman of Walden International, will collectively invest $15 million into the fund. Additionally, Karthik Madathil, bringing 30 years of deeptech industry experience, joins as a partner at Yali Capital.
Mathew Cyriac underlined the fund’s vision, stating, “When we started talking about Yali, it was important to recognize India’s evolving landscape. We are several years behind in deeptech innovation in many areas. Yali aims to be at the forefront, helping startups in business building and innovation.”
