India Tech Report

Tag: entrepreneurship

  • Lab to deep tech startup: 5 takeaways from a conversation with Karthee Madasamy at MFV Partners

    Lab to deep tech startup: 5 takeaways from a conversation with Karthee Madasamy at MFV Partners

    Early-stage VC firms partnering universities to identify and back promising deep-tech startups is a well-established practice in the US. What lessons does that hold for India’s nascent deep tech sector? Recently, I spoke about this with Karthee Madasamy, founding managing partner at MFV Partners in the US. MFV has just established a new fund – Harper Court Ventures Fund I – dedicated to supporting pre-seed deep science startups coming out of University of Chicago.

    Here are five important takeaways from our conversation.

    1. Smart funding is crucial for early-stage deep tech startups

    Harper Court Ventures was created to fill a critical gap in the University of Chicago’s ecosystem: the need for “smart funding” at the pre-seed stage. This means providing not just capital, but also hands-on support—helping founders build teams, set milestones, and connect with syndicate partners. Such proactive involvement is especially vital for deep tech startups, where technical risk and commercialisation challenges are high.

    2. University research is a powerful driver of tech ecosystems

    The fund’s model is inspired by the historic role of US universities in powering innovation hubs like Silicon Valley. By translating academic research into startups, universities can become engines of economic growth. Harper Court Ventures aims to unlock this potential within the Chicago ecosystem, focusing on areas where the university has world-leading expertise, such as quantum engineering and health sciences.

    3. Sector focus leverages university strengths and national assets

    The fund targets four strategic sectors — quantum engineering, energy, life sciences, and data science — where the University of Chicago and its partnerships with famous labs such as Argonne National Laboratory and Fermilab (Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory) have unique capabilities. This focused approach enables deeper support and de-risks investments, a lesson for India to align deep tech funding with institutional and national strengths.

    4. A locally relevant partnership holds the key to success

    Harper Court Ventures is an independent fund with a formal cooperation agreement to invest exclusively in University of Chicago deep tech startups. This structure ensures a strong pipeline of investable companies and aligns the incentives of the university, the fund, and the founders. In India, Karthee sees promise in a different model. A fund that can be drawn upon by multiple top universities such as the IITs and BITS might be a better model for India, he says.

    5. India’s deep tech ecosystem is growing, but structural gaps remain

    While India is seeing more deep tech activity, including government focus and new funds, the pipeline of university spinouts and formal VC-university partnerships is still limited. Karthee notes that incentives, infrastructure, and mindset in Indian academia are improving, but a dedicated, large-scale approach — possibly spanning multiple top institutes — is needed for this sector to really flourish in India.

  • From uni lab to deep tech startup: Karthee Madasamy on the Harper Court fund experience

    From uni lab to deep tech startup: Karthee Madasamy on the Harper Court fund experience

    My guest today is Karthee Madasamy, founding managing partner at MFV Partners, a US-based early-stage deep-tech focused VC firm.

    In this episode, Karthee gives us a quick overview of MFV’s $25 million Harper Court Ventures Fund 1 – a specialized vehicle bridging academic research and commercial viability for the deep tech startups coming out of University of Chicago.

    He talks about how the fund addresses critical gaps in early-stage ecosystems through “smart funding,” meaning combining capital with hands-on operational support, to translate lab breakthroughs into viable companies.

    The model focuses on high-impact sectors where UChicago holds world-class capabilities, including quantum computing, life sciences, energy, and artificial intelligence. Unlike traditional VC, the fund embeds itself in the university’s innovation pipeline – collaborating with accelerators, tapping extensive alumni networks, and guiding startups from IP validation to Series A readiness.

    Early bets include Flow Medical, which is developing a next-generation catheter-based therapy to treat acute pulmonary embolism,

    SimCare AI, which is developing a platform for clinical skills training and evaluation, and Beacon, which is developing technology that eliminates viruses, bacteria, and molds from air and surfaces.

    Karthee also briefly discusses potential takeaways and best practices from partnerships such as the Harper Court fund, which are not new in the US, for India’s emerging deep tech ecosystem. MFV’s investments in India include Ati Motors, an autonomous mobile robots company in Bengaluru, and EV energy infrastructure company Sun Mobility.