Dr. Ajay Kumar’s MGF-Kavachh VC Fund Hits First Close, Exceeds Targeted Corpus by Over 100percentage

New Delhi, 24th August 2024: A first of its kind, MountTech Growth Fund or MGF-Kavachh by former Defence Secretary Dr. Ajay Kumar, along with three co-founders, is specifically tailored to nurture startups that drive advancements in deep-tech and strategic sectors, ensuring the indigenization of critical technologies, products, and services essential for India’s national security and technological leadership.

Dr. Kumar, who has been instrumental in steering many of India’s technology and defence related policy reforms, now spearheads MGF-Kavachh as its Founder and Chairman.

“India stands at a pivotal moment, with an unparalleled opportunity to leverage its strengths amid evolving global dynamics. MGF-Kavachh aims to catalyze this growth by focusing on local innovation and the indigenization of critical technologies in areas of national importance. MGF-Kavachh will nurture promising start-ups working at the intersection of innovation, space, aerospace, deep technology, and India’s ‘Atmanirbhar’ agenda while solving for its strategic needs across sectors like National Security, Defence and Aerospace, Digital Communications,” stated Dr. Kumar.

Since receiving SEBI approval in January 2024, MGF-Kavachh has swiftly garnered commitments surpassing its planned corpus size of ₹250 crores. The fund has declared its first close at over 100% of its targetted corpus reflecting the strong confidence and interest from investors and institutions in the thesis as well as the MGF-Kavachh team. It will now be using its green-shoe option of another ₹250 crores before its final closure.

An exceptional team backs the fund, with Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria (Rtd.) and Vice Admiral SN Ghormade (Rtd.), and Lt. General Dr Anil Kapoor on the Strategy and Oversight Board, among other notable names. The Advisory Council comprises of eminent experts and professionals who passionately share MGF-Kavachh’s vision of “Stronger India Safer World” and includes Smita Purshottam, IFS (Rtd.), Ex Indian Ambassador to Switzerland and Venezuela and Founder of SITARA; Gani Subramaniam, Founding and Managing Partner Yali Capital; Dr. Manan Suri, Prof. IIT Delhi; Binay Kumar Singh, IPS (Rtd.), Ex DGP Chhattisgarh, Ex Intelligence Bureau Veteran; Ravi Singh, a versatile and respected deep tech Investor, Arvind Lakshmikumar, deep tech entrepreneur and founder Tonbo Imaging; Dr. Vinod Agarwal, a renowned semi-conductor expert, tech investor and serial entrepreneur from the Silicon Valley, Dr. Pratyush Kumar – Tech Investor, and Former Head – Boeing South Asia and Vish Sahasranamam – Co-founder of Forge Innovation and Ventures – a leading private incubator of India.

Former senior telecom industry executive Mr. Raj Sethia is a co-founder and Managing Partner and leads a small but exceptional team of professionals. He brings with him a deep understanding of business , finance and technology, a rare combination.

The fund’s focus on IP and technology-driven businesses aims to transform India into a hub of strategic and technological excellence in the space, aerospace, and deep-tech sectors.

“The Fund’s strategy is built on four pillars: rigorous gatekeeping, robust portfolio construction, a unique acceleration platform for its investees, and a razor-sharp execution focus,” expressed Raj Sethia, Founder and Managing Partner at Kavachh.

“Self-reliance in strategic sectors is an existential need for the country and a lucrative opportunity for investors,” shared Suryakant Dalmia, Co-Founder at MGF-Kavachh.

“MGF-Kavachh, with its focus, credibility, and platform, will be the first port-of-call for founders, co-investors, institutions, and eco-system players,”, shared Abhinav Munshi, Co-Founder at Kavachh.