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Unacademy co-founders Gaurav Munjal and Roman Saini are raising a Rs 700-crore venture capital fund called Longshot Capital to back early-stage artificial intelligence (AI) and deep-technology startups, according to a report by The Economic Times that was widely picked up on 26 October 2026. Inc42, Indian Startup News and CIOL all reported the same core details, citing the Economic Times report and its sources.
The fund is registered as a Category II alternative investment fund (AIF), a structure commonly used by venture funds in India to pool money from investors and deploy it into unlisted companies. Reports say Longshot Capital has already secured commitments of around Rs 250-300 crore — roughly 36-43 percent of its Rs 700-crore target — and is aiming for its first close in January 2027. Fundraising discussions are still under way, so both the final size and the timing of the first close could change.
According to the reports, Munjal and Saini declined to comment on the development. That is an important qualification: for now, Longshot Capital is a reported plan, not a fund that has announced a final close or a first investment. Readers should therefore treat the figures below as reported targets, not confirmed outcomes.
The reported move comes less than two months after upGrad completed its all-stock acquisition of Unacademy, the education-technology company Munjal and Saini built over more than a decade. Reports put the value of that deal at approximately Rs 1,955 crore, a sharp fall from Unacademy's peak valuation of around $3.4 billion in 2021, when online learning boomed during the pandemic.
The contrast matters because it frames the founders' next chapter. Instead of building another consumer internet company, they are reported to be moving to the other side of the table: choosing which founders to fund, and bringing operating experience — hiring, fundraising, competing and surviving a downturn — to companies that are still small.
Munjal and Saini are also not new to investing. Reports note that the pair have collectively made more than 200 angel investments worth over Rs 25 crore in companies including Pine Labs, Dhan, Ultrahuman and Third Wave Coffee. Longshot Capital would formalise that activity into a dedicated fund with outside investors, a stated mandate and a team built around it.
Under the reported structure, Saini will run Longshot Capital full-time, while Munjal will be involved part-time alongside his role at Unacademy. Both founders are expected to serve as general partners — the people who make investment decisions and manage the fund day to day.
Longshot Capital is based in Bengaluru, and its mandate is deliberately narrow. It plans to back 25-28 startups at the seed and pre-Series A stages — the earliest rounds, when a company may have a product and early customers but not yet proven scale.
Initial cheques are reported at $500,000 to $1.5 million per company, targeting an ownership stake of 8-12 percent in each business. The fund plans to deploy its capital over three years and will invest in India-based startups as well as companies founded by entrepreneurs of Indian origin abroad.
Its focus areas are AI-led businesses and deep-technology segments such as manufacturing, space, defence and robotics. Consumer brands and retail businesses are explicitly not part of the focus, according to the reports. That distinction is significant: deep-tech companies often need years of research and development before they have a product to sell, unlike a consumer app that can grow quickly on marketing spend.
That longer horizon explains the fund's reported 10-11 year lifespan, longer than the typical venture fund cycle. A satellite component, a robotics system or an advanced manufacturing process cannot be rushed to market in the same way as a software feature, and investors in the fund are being asked to be patient.
Reports say prospective investors include startup founders, family offices and overseas institutions — a mix that suggests the fund is pitching both to people who know the Indian startup ecosystem and to institutions looking for exposure to Indian technology.
The reported fund arrives at a moment of growing investor interest in frontier technology in India. One report cited in the coverage noted that Indian AI startups raised $438 million across 28 deals in the third quarter of 2026, up 265 percent year on year, while deep-tech startups raised $290 million across 28 deals, up 176 percent year on year. Those figures, if accurate, suggest that capital is already moving toward technically demanding companies — and that Longshot Capital would be entering a competitive field, not an empty one.
There are also policy and market tailwinds. India has been pushing domestic capability in areas such as semiconductors, space and defence manufacturing, and large companies and the government are increasingly buyers of AI and automation tools. For a seed-stage fund, that matters: a deep-tech startup needs not just capital but early customers, testing facilities and regulatory clarity, and those are easier to find when the broader ecosystem is moving in the same direction.
At the same time, the risks are real. Deep-tech investing has a high failure rate, long gestation periods and uncertain exit routes — a company may be acquired, list on a stock exchange, or simply run out of money before its technology finds a market. A 10-11 year fund life helps, but it does not remove that risk. Prospective investors and founders should also note that nothing in the reports guarantees that Longshot Capital will reach its Rs 700-crore target, close in January 2027, or back the full 25-28 companies it plans to.
For early-stage founders in AI, manufacturing, space, defence and robotics, the reported fund is another potential source of capital — and, perhaps more importantly, a signal that experienced operators are willing to back technically hard problems at the seed stage. A cheque of $500,000 to $1.5 million will not by itself build a factory or launch a satellite, but at seed stage it can fund a prototype, a first team and early customer trials.
For investors, the fund is a reminder that venture capital in India is broadening beyond consumer internet. The bet here is not on rapid user growth but on engineering depth, intellectual property and long-term contracts. That kind of bet needs different diligence — technical expertise, patience and a tolerance for companies that take years to generate revenue.
For the wider startup ecosystem, the move also illustrates a familiar cycle: founders who built a large company, sold it or stepped back, and then recycle their experience and capital into the next generation. Whether Longshot Capital succeeds will depend less on its headline size and more on the quality of the 25-28 companies it picks, and on whether those companies can survive the long road from prototype to product.
Three things are worth watching in the coming months. First, whether Longshot Capital confirms the fund publicly and reaches its first close in January 2027 as reported. Second, who its investors turn out to be, since that will indicate how much confidence the market has in the strategy. Third, which startups it backs first — the first few investments will reveal more about its real mandate than any reported plan.
Until then, the honest summary is this: two well-known founders are reported to be raising a Rs 700-crore fund for AI and deep-tech startups, with about Rs 250-300 crore already committed. It is a notable development for Indian venture capital, but it is still a work in progress — and the next announcement, not this report, will be the real test.
Longshot Capital, as reported, marks a clear shift for Gaurav Munjal and Roman Saini: from running Unacademy, one of India's best-known education-technology companies, to funding the founders building India's AI and deep-technology future. The Rs 700-crore target, the focus on 25-28 early-stage companies, and the 10-11 year horizon all point to a patient, engineering-led strategy.
If the fund closes and invests as planned, it could give a meaningful boost to founders working on hard problems in manufacturing, space, defence and robotics. If it does not, it will still have highlighted where investor attention is heading. Either way, the story is worth following — with the caveat that, for now, it rests on reports citing unnamed sources, and the founders themselves have declined to comment.
Longshot Capital is a venture capital fund reportedly being raised by Unacademy co-founders Gaurav Munjal and Roman Saini. It plans to raise Rs 700 crore to back early-stage AI and deep-technology startups in India and companies founded by entrepreneurs of Indian origin abroad.
According to reports citing The Economic Times, the fund has secured commitments of around Rs 250-300 crore so far and is targeting its first close in January 2027. Both the final size and the timing could change, and the founders declined to comment, so these are reported figures rather than a confirmed close.
It plans to back 25-28 startups at the seed and pre-Series A stages, with initial cheques of $500,000 to $1.5 million for an 8-12 percent stake. Its focus is AI-led businesses and deep-tech areas such as manufacturing, space, defence and robotics; consumer brands and retail are not part of the mandate.
Saini is reported to run the fund full-time, while Munjal will be involved part-time alongside his role at Unacademy. Both founders are expected to serve as general partners. The fund is registered as a Category II alternative investment fund and is based in Bengaluru.
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