New Delhi, May 15 -- Silicon Valley-based early-stage venture capital firm 3i Partners, erstwhile Impact India Investment Partners, has launched a new India-domiciled fund as it looks to deepen its focus on deeptech startups, VCCircle has learned.

The new vehicle is likely to mark a shift from the firm's earlier offshore fundraising structure, which included a Delaware-based fund entity, to an India-focused setup aligned with the country's growing deeptech startup ecosystem.

An email sent to 3i didn't elicit a response till the time of publishing the story.

The firm is likely to continue backing early-stage startups at the pre-seed and seed stages, with a focus on Indian-origin founders building globally scalable technologies. It has been scaling its Indian team as it shifts its fund structure.

Founded in 2020, 3i Partners invests across sectors such as climate tech, frontier engineering, advanced manufacturing, healthtech, and AI-led industrial innovation. The firm typically writes cheques ranging from about $150,000 to $1 million. It focuses on sectors such as climate technology, frontier engineering and healthcare.

The firm's leadership team includes managing partners Kumar Ganapathy, Ravikrishna Cherukuri, Subodh Toprani and AGK Karunakaran, who bring experience across semiconductors, enterprise technology, deeptech and venture investing.

The firm's earlier offshore vehicle, 3i RR Coinvest LP, was incorporated in Delaware and reported a total fund size of about $12.5 million, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The filing listed the fund's investment focus across venture and early-stage opportunities.

The VC firm believes India's deeptech ecosystem has entered an inflection phase driven by stronger founder quality, rising R&D-led entrepreneurship and increasing institutional interest in climate and industrial technologies, according to its website.

Its portfolio includes startups such as Planys Technologies, which develops underwater robotics and inspection systems; PadCare, a menstrual hygiene waste recycling startup; Exposome, focused on precision health and diagnostics; and Medulance, an emergency healthcare response platform.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.