India now has a dedicated venture capital fund just for space startups. In under a year, it has already backed three of them.
Key Facts
- The Antariksh Venture Capital Fund (AVCF) is a SEBI-registered Category II Alternative Investment Fund. SEBI approved it on 31 October 2025.
- Its job is to give equity capital to emerging space-tech startups. This supports their technology development, commercialisation, and scale-up.
- IN-SPACe channels the government’s money into the fund. Its total contribution reached ₹188.93 crore as of 24 July 2026.
- Of that total, ₹182.87 crore was contributed in the current financial year, 2026-27, alone.
- AVCF’s Investment Committee has already selected 3 startups for investment. Their names were not disclosed.
- These figures came from Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Space, in a written reply to the Lok Sabha on 5 August 2026.
Why It Matters
India opened its space sector to private players in 2020, through IN-SPACe. But early-stage space startups often struggle to raise equity capital on their own. AVCF exists to close that gap directly, with government-backed money. As a SEBI-registered fund, it also sits inside the same regulatory framework that governs other private investment funds in India.
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