Ronnie Screwvala launches $50M fund to back early-stage AI, deeptech and space-tech startups; says he’s looking for his “next Lenskart"

Veteran entrepreneur, investor, and upGrad co-founder Ronnie Screwvala is doubling down on India’s most ambitious frontier technologies, putting serious skin in the game.

Ronnie Screwvala's $50M personal corpus to back India’s frontier tech Founders

He has carved out a $50 million personal corpus to back early-stage startups in AI, deeptech, and space-tech.

Screwvala, whose early bet on Lenskart has delivered nearly 70× returns, is now on the hunt for the “next Lenskarts,” backing India’s newest generation of technical founders who are building for the next decade.

“We’re all obsessed with 10-minute deliveries and e-commerce, but the real innovation is happening in these sectors — deep tech, AI, and especially space — which nobody is talking about...These are sunrise sectors for the next decade, and they need founders who can spot problems, not just solve them,” he told Moneycontrol.

He has already made six early bets, including SpeakX, ZuAI, CuePilot AI, Round1 (Grapevine) and TrueFan, in just the last three months. 

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Over the next 12–15 months, he expects to back around 15 startups, writing cheques in the $1–3 million range.

His shift toward AI and applied deep technologies comes from a conviction that India’s strongest opportunities will emerge from applied intelligence, language systems, and workflow-level software, areas where founders can build defensible products without entering capital-heavy foundational model races.

“In AI, 90–95 percent won’t make it past the starting gate. Everyone wants to rebrand their existing business as an AI company, but only a few will have a real product idea. Those are the ones that will endure," he remarked.

He is also betting early on India’s rising private space-tech wave, calling it one of the country’s most overlooked but fastest-moving sector.

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