IIT Roorkee, IvyCap Ventures, NuQuant Launch ₹1,000 Crore Endowment Fund

The Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IIT Roorkee), in partnership with IvyCap Ventures and NuQuant, has announced a Super Endowment Fund with a target corpus of approximately ₹1,000 crore. The initiative is intended to function as a perpetual, self-sustaining capital source aimed at strengthening India's innovation ecosystem and providing long-term support to deep-tech startups. According to the announcement, the fund will back research, innovation, entrepreneurship and technology translation across the IIT network.

The fund was announced during Bharat Innovates 2026, held in Nice, France. The event is positioned as a platform through which India is inviting global universities, research organisations, investors, philanthropists and industry leaders to collaborate across sectors including climate technologies, energy systems, semiconductors, advanced manufacturing, critical minerals and healthcare, and to participate in the fund and related innovation activities.

IIT Roorkee said the initiative builds on its 175-year history and is designed to mobilise contributions from alumni, philanthropic donors, corporates and institutions. Organisers said the fund is expected to support research and innovation in areas such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, critical minerals, quantum computing, clean energy, healthcare, advanced manufacturing, circular economy and agritech.

The endowment will be managed by IvyCap Ventures, which describes itself as a pioneer of institution-linked endowment models in India. The firm said the structure is intended to help Indian institutions generate intellectual property from research conducted on their campuses.

IIT Roorkee and IvyCap Ventures said they are inviting alumni, corporate leaders, philanthropists, institutional investors, global universities and other strategic partners to participate in the initiative.

IvyCap Ventures is among India's largest homegrown venture capital firms, working with the IIT–IIM alumni ecosystem to support early-stage companies. The firm established India's first university endowment fund at IIT Delhi in 2019 and says it is the only VC firm that channels a share of fund manager profits back to IITs and IIMs through endowments.

IIT Roorkee is an institute of national importance offering education in engineering, sciences, management, architecture and planning, and humanities and social sciences. Established in 1847, the institute has long contributed to the country's technical workforce and expertise.