The Veterans-Found Defense-Oriented Angel Fund Gets Fully Subscribed

Jamwant Ventures Angel Fund, founded by two Naval veterans, Cdr. Navneet Kaushik and Cdr. Kartik Gopal, has been fully subscribed, and the fund is due to announce its first close on July 15. The fund is focused on early-stage defense, aerospace, and deep-tech startups at pre-seed, seed, and Series A stages.

Dr. Kaushik has experience with investments from the Technology Development Board, a statutory body of the Department of Science and Technology that provides financial support to Indian companies for the commercialization of innovative and indigenous technologies. Prior to that, he served in the Indian Navy and has extensive experience in project management, defense acquisition, and DGQA. Dr. Kartik Gopal has more than 25 years of experience in supply chain management, ERP systems, and quality management processes.

On the advisory board, the fund has Vice Admiral AB Singh (Retd), who has held the appointments of Commander-in-Chief of both the operation commands of the Navy and was heading the Policy and Plans Division, and Admiral KG Vishwanathan (Retd), who headed the Navy's Tactics and Strategy division, along with Dr. Neeraj Sharma, former Secretary of TDB and former Head of the National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Board. The fund also has Shri AP Sarma, former executive vice president of IDBI Securities, former CEO of SIDBI Venture Capital Fund, and Prof. Parag Bhargava, Department of Metallurgy, IIT Bombay.

During the discussions, Dr. Kartik Gopal emphasised that there is huge potential in the current defense ecosystem for innovation and growth. We understand the needs of the defense ecosystem and are willing to go the extra mile to support Atmanirbhar Bharat in this sector. At Jamwant Venture, we not only intend to provide financial support to the startups but also the much-needed mentorship support that is required in the early stages. While IDEX, Aditi, and other related schemes have made the defense requirements more accessible, there is still a need for mentorship for the startups to deliver on the challenges. We want to address this gap and have therefore created a team of advisors and domain experts with the requisite hands-on experience who can guide and mentor these startups to the next level."

Dr. Kaushik stated that "it is encouraging to see that investors can now see the potential in the defense and aerospace sectors, and there are now funds that have defense as their focus. There is a fervor in the investor community today that wants to be part of the growth story unfolding in the defense startup ecosystem. Our angel fund not only allows HNIs, ultra-HNIs, and strategic investors to be part of the journey but also gives relatively smaller investors the opportunity to be part of this startup revolution in India. Considering the response from the investors and the criticality of the sector, the fund is in the process of increasing its size to enable wider participation."

It is of paramount significance to note that the government has now shifted focus towards self-reliance in the defense sector. India is now looking to reduce its imports of defense equipment and own a larger share of the pie in the defense export market. The startup ecosystem has the potential to be the most promising vehicle that can lead the transformation from an importer of defense equipment to a net exporter, and Jamwant intends to play a pivotal role in this ecosystem.