ixigo co-founder and Group Co-CEO Rajnish Kumar has set up a ₹1 crore founder fund for students graduating from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, his alma mater. Called the Made in Fire Fund, after his book Made in Fire, the initiative will back 10 technology-led startups from each graduating batch, starting with the Class of 2026.
Kumar, who graduated from IIT Kanpur in 2001, announced the fund on 28 October 2026 after returning to the campus to address the graduating class.
₹10 lakh per startup, with no equity taken
Each selected startup will receive ₹10 lakh in non-dilutive prototype funding, which means founders do not give up any equity in return. The money is meant to help teams build a minimum viable product, test their core idea and reach early proof of demand.
Funding is only one part of the package. Selected founders will get mentorship from Kumar, ixigo’s leadership team and the wider network of entrepreneurs who have come out of ixigo. The fund also promises product reviews, go-to-market guidance, hiring support and introductions to investors where appropriate. After a review period of six to 12 months, the teams will get to present their progress at a Demo Day.
Builders over pitch decks
The fund says it will back “builders, not presentation polish”. Selection will weigh founder conviction, depth of customer understanding, originality of insight, execution ability, long-term thinking and coachability. The final cohort will be chosen through a structured application and evaluation process, with filters agreed jointly with IIT Kanpur.
Graduating IIT Kanpur students can apply on their own or as founding teams. The fund is open to technology-led ventures across artificial intelligence, SaaS, consumer internet, deep tech, climate, mobility, healthtech, enterprise software and other emerging areas.
Why it matters for campus entrepreneurship
Most student founders struggle to find their first cheque. Institutional seed funds and incubators usually ask for equity, and angel investors often want traction before they commit. A non-dilutive grant at the prototype stage fills that gap and lets graduates test an idea before they have to choose between a job offer and a startup.
The move also adds to a growing trend of IIT alumni giving back through targeted funds, endowments and centres on their old campuses. For IIT Kanpur, which already runs one of India’s more active incubation ecosystems through SIIC, an alumnus-led fund aimed squarely at fresh graduates widens the pipeline of student-led deep-tech and AI ventures.
If the model works, it could become a template for other founders who want to back entrepreneurship at their own institutions in a structured, repeatable way, one graduating batch at a time.
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