IndiGo Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of India’s largest airline IndiGo, has announced the first close of its maiden fund at Rs 450 crore, the company announced on Wednesday.
The fund, launched in August 2024 with regulatory approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to raise Rs 600 crore, is focused on investing in early-stage startups driving innovation in aviation and allied sectors. The fund targets startups at the pre-Series A to Series B stages, with an emphasis on long-term strategic alignment.
As part of the announcement, IndiGo Ventures disclosed its first investment, an undisclosed amount in Jeh Aerospace, a Hyderabad-based startup focused on high-precision aerospace and defense manufacturing.
Jeh will deploy the investment to scale its advanced digital manufacturing infrastructure, enhance its AI-driven production optimisation and deep supply chain integration platforms, and attract top engineering and production talent.
Founded by industry veterans Vishal Sanghavi and Venkatesh Mudragalla, alumni of Tata’s joint ventures with Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Sikorsky, Jeh Aerospace has scaled swiftly in its first year of operations. The startup has built a 100-member team of engineers and technicians and delivered over 100,000 flight-critical aeroengine components and precision tools compliant with AS9100 aerospace standards. It has secured $100 million in long-term contracts from global aerospace firms.
“This investment empowers us to scale production capacity to meet growing demand from our global customers, ensuring flawless, on-time delivery of high-precision components. Venky and I are thrilled to collaborate with IndiGo, a global aviation leader, and are deeply honored by the opportunity to drive innovation and shape the future of aerospace together,” said Sanghavi, who is also the CEO of Jeh Aerospace.
“Through IndiGo Ventures, we are excited to partner with Jeh Aerospace, a homegrown brand that shares our vision and spirit of strengthening the Indian aviation ecosystem. By combining our technical expertise and global footprint, this partnership will propel use of nextgeneration technology in the aerospace and aviation sector,” said IndiGO CEO Pieter Elbers.
Jeh previously raised $2.75 million in seed funding in January 2024, led by General Catalyst and supported by angel investors including Pratyush Kumar and Dwarkanath Srinivas.