India's wealthiest families are stepping into one of the country's toughest startup funding gaps, backing deeptech companies that often require years of patient capital before becoming commercially viable.
India's family offices have grown to more than 300 in 2024 from 45 in 2018, managing $30-35 billion in assets, according to a November 2025 PwC report. Their startup investments surged to about $1.8 billion in 2025 from $654 million in 2020, Venture Intelligence data showed.
Within that, investments by single family offices into deeptech startups surged nearly 30-fold to $467.1 million in 2025 from $15.3 million in 2020, according to Tracxn, as investors increasingly backed companies developing technologies such as space, semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), and defence.
Overall investment in India's deeptech ecosystem rose from $302 million in 2020 to $1.34 billion in 2025. Single family office investment stood at $215.6 million year-to-date as of 27 July 2026, Tracxn data showed.
Patient capital
Unlike venture capital funds, which must return capital within fixed fund cycles, family offices invest their own wealth without fixed investment horizons, allowing them to back deeptech companies over 15 to 20 years or longer—often the time needed to commercialise complex technologies.
“Since venture funds manage other people's money, they typically promise returns within five to six years. Deeptech businesses often don't fit that timeline because they require continuous investment and refinement before they become commercially viable. That's where family offices have an advantage. They are able to take a longer-term view and support businesses that need patient capital,” said Suraj Malik, founding partner at Legacy Growth, a multi-family office boutique firm specializing in family business succession planning and transaction advisory services.
Malik, whose firm has advised on deeptech deals, said the lower year-to-date investment figure was “more of a momentary phase in how the data is being interpreted. I don't believe there's any structural reduction in investments. It may simply be a temporary fluctuation rather than a long-term trend.”
Conviction is also showing up in cheque sizes. Average investments increased from $4.4 million in 2021 to $26 million in 2025 and $43.1 million year-to-date, according to Tracxn.
“Back in the day, it would probably have been ₹3–5 crore. Now, family offices are more than happy to go to about five or eight times, possibly even 10 times, what they were investing earlier,” said Sanjeev Rajput, founder and chief executive of Capital Connect, an investment banking advisory firm.
Why now
Beyond patient capital, family offices are increasingly investing alongside specialist venture funds with the technical expertise to evaluate complex technologies.
“As a family office, we follow a split strategy, 10% allocation to new managers who have domain expertise and skin in the game, and 90% allocation to experienced venture capital funds,” said Jai S. Rupani, chief investment officer and principal, Dinesh Hinduja Family Office.
Rupani cited Yali Capital, which raised $104 million for its debut deeptech fund in 2025. “In my mind, every investment today is deep tech because the world has become heavily data-driven,” he added.
Government support has also strengthened investor confidence. The Centre's ₹1 trillion Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund has begun deploying capital, with spacetech startups receiving ₹833.89 crore in the first round of approvals—the largest allocation across sectors, according to a government document reviewed by Mint.
"Family offices are increasingly looking at deeptech because the government has made it a strategic priority…Countries like the US and China are moving aggressively, with hundreds of space missions planned every year, while India is still at a much earlier stage. That gap itself creates a significant investment opportunity," said Anirudh Damani, managing partner at Artha Venture Fund, a micro-VC firm founded by the Damani family office.
Artha Venture Fund has backed Agnikul Cosmos since March 2020 and last invested in 2025, when the rocket startup raised ₹150 crore at a $500 million valuation.
“Currently, we are evaluating opportunities in propulsion, space manufacturing, and the commercialization of space,” Damani said.
Commercial payoff
The biggest shift, investors say, is that deeptech startups are now proving they can commercialize products and scale.
“Earlier, they were seen as research projects. Today, they are generating revenue and creating viable businesses, which is driving higher valuations and attracting family office capital,” said Shashank Randev, founder and general partner at 247VC, whose anchor investors include a family office.
“Initially, family offices largely stuck to traditional investments such as fixed deposits and mutual funds. As they realized the wealth creation potential of early-stage startups, they began investing alongside VC firms, relying on the VCs' due diligence before writing cheques,” Rajput said.
Investors expect allocations to keep rising.
"This is just the beginning. Over the next eight to 10 years, you will actually see a lot more capital being allocated by family offices, not just into deep tech, but aerospace, medtech, pharmatech,” Rajput added.
Recent deals reflect the trend. Skyroot Aerospace became India's first spacetech unicorn in May after raising $60 million from investors including Shanghvi Family Office. In July, AI coding startup Emergent raised $130 million with participation from Manipal Group chairman Ranjan Pai's family office.
Capital-A raised ₹160 crore from family offices including the Chamaria Group, Steel House Family Office, Avyay Jhunjhunwala and MP Family Office, while Bellatrix Aerospace secured $20 million in March from Hero Investment Office and other investors.
Udtara Ventures, the family office of Rajiv Chaurasia, launched the ₹250 crore Udtara Growth Fund in February to back startups in defence, deeptech and frontier technologies.