Orange City's first deep-tech fund closes ₹120 Cr first tranche

A new SEBI-registered Category-II AIF anchored out of Nagpur has closed its ₹120 crore first tranche, with SIDBI's Fund of Funds for Startups committing as the lead LP.

The fund's stated thesis is hardware-led deep-tech — industrial robotics, sensor systems, edge-AI inference and select agritech hardware — with cheque sizes of ₹3–8 Cr at seed and follow-on participation up to Series A.

Three of the fund's named operating partners are MIHAN-based founders who have built and exited industrial-automation companies in the last six years. The general-partner team is split between Nagpur and Pune.

Of the eight investments earmarked for 2027, the fund has confirmed three pilots already underway — two from VNIT alumni teams, one a Mihan-based machine-vision spin-out. None are disclosed publicly yet.

The structural significance is the geography. Indian deep-tech capital concentration in Bengaluru means hardware founders elsewhere routinely relocate to raise. A regional fund with a hardware mandate creates a different option, and one that's easier to combine with proximity to MIHAN's industrial tenants.

What to watch over the next year: the fund's portfolio construction discipline (deep-tech failure rates are unforgiving), follow-on co-investment from larger Bengaluru AIFs, and whether the cluster effect actually translates into more Series A graduations from the region.