Yali Capital Research
Investment Thesis
Yali Capital is a Bangalore-headquartered deep-tech venture capital firm founded in 2024 by Ganapathy "Gani" Subramaniam and Mathew Cyriac. The firm believes the next wave of large-scale innovation will have roots in deep tech, and it is built around the premise that the people backing deep-tech companies should understand what it takes to build them. Its founding partners bring decades of hands-on operating experience: Gani co-founded Cosmic Circuits (acquired by Cadence in 2013) and later chaired Cirel Systems (acquired by Micron in 2023), while Mathew Cyriac spent three decades across Blackstone, Credit Suisse, and DLJ and chairs Florintree Advisors, a private equity firm behind the public listings of Data Patterns, ideaForge, and MTAR Technologies. The firm is advised by Lip-Bu Tan, Chairman of Walden International.
Yali focuses on companies building from or for India with a global outlook, betting that India's deep engineering and R&D talent pool (the firm notes two-fifths of the global chip-design workforce originates in India) can produce globally competitive deep-tech companies.
Sector Focus
Yali invests across six deep-tech sectors:
- Life Sciences — precision oncology, genomics, medical devices
- Robotics — physical AI and automation across warehousing, defence, and agriculture
- Fabless Semiconductor — IP-first chip design companies
- Artificial Intelligence — sovereign AI and infrastructure, with a focus on real-world productivity gains
- Smart Manufacturing — automation, shopfloor reliability, and industrial intelligence layers
- Aerospace & Surveillance — components and full-system solutions for India's expanding aerospace industry
The firm states it will consider deep-tech companies with a strong technical moat even outside these six sectors.
Stage Focus
Yali's stated sweet spot spans Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A, and Late-Stage rounds, though it remains open to earlier or later opportunities that fit its deep-tech thesis.
Check Size
Yali does not publish an explicit check-size range. Portfolio evidence spans from roughly $700K (DeepLase's ₹6 crore seed round, co-led) up to participation in growth-stage rounds such as Ultraviolette Automotive's $85M raise, suggesting a working range of roughly $500K–$10M for direct checks, with reserve capacity for follow-ons at later stages.
Lead Tendency
Yali frequently leads or co-leads early-stage rounds: it led 4baseCare's Series A, led PointAI's Pre-Series A, and co-led both LatentForce's and DeepLase's seed rounds. It also participates alongside other investors in select rounds (e.g., Perceptyne's seed alongside Endiya Partners, Ultraviolette's growth round alongside TDK Ventures).
Recent Activity
Yali closed its debut fund at ₹893 crore (~$104M) in July 2025, with Infosys Innovation Fund among its LPs. The fund is actively deploying: DeepLase (seed, March 2026), 4baseCare Series B first close (January 2026, closing at ₹128 crore by June 2026), LatentForce (seed, December 2025), and PointAI (Pre-Series A, October 2025) are its most recent new investments. In 2026 the firm also saw its first exit signals, with portfolio companies C2i Semiconductors (acquired by Infineon, August 2026) and Micropack (acquisition announced by Carlyle, July 2026).
Portfolio Highlights
Yali's portfolio spans 8 companies (including one full exit): 4baseCare (precision oncology genomics), Perceptyne Robotics (industrial robotics), C2i Semiconductors (power management ICs, exited to Infineon), LatentForce (AI-driven legacy code modernization), Micropack (professional-grade PCB manufacturing, ISRO/DRDO supplier, acquisition announced by Carlyle), Ultraviolette (high-performance electric motorcycles), PointAI/Tryndbuy (GenAI virtual try-on for retail, AI partner to Aditya Birla Fashion), and DeepLase (IIT Delhi photonics spinout).
Team
- Ganapathy "Gani" Subramaniam — Founding Managing Partner. Former Texas Instruments engineering leader; co-founded Cosmic Circuits (acquired by Cadence, 2013); chaired Cirel Systems (acquired by Micron, 2023).
- Mathew Cyriac — Co-Founder. Three decades across Blackstone India (Co-Head of Private Equity, 2006–2017), Credit Suisse, and DLJ; Chairman of Florintree Advisors; board roles at Tata Capital, Tata Play, and Gokaldas Exports.
- Karthikeyan "Karthik" Madathil — Partner, Investments. 30 years in deep tech; former VP of Engineering at a deep-tech startup, IC design leadership at Texas Instruments and Cypress Semiconductor, co-founder/CTO of an AI-backed edtech company.
- Sandipan Mondal — Investments.
- Kaushik Ram — Investments, genomics and life sciences focus.
- Sunil S Patil — Operations. Two decades of finance and operations leadership across Cosmic Circuits and Cirel Systems.
- Pranav Karnad — Marketing Communications.
- Manjunath M P — Operations.
- Ajay Soni — Operations.
- Lip-Bu Tan — Advisor. Chairman, Walden International.
Decision Process
Yali runs an investment-committee process: an introductory conversation with an investment professional, followed by technical, financial, and market deep-dives with domain experts and advisors, then Investment Committee approval. Given the technical diligence required for deep-tech bets, timelines typically range from a few weeks to a couple of months.
Founder Preferences
Yali looks for exceptional founding teams solving hard technical problems with defensible IP and a clear path to market differentiation, weighting grit, clarity of thought, and long-term resilience as heavily as technical depth. The firm explicitly prefers teams with multiple founders who are grounded, value strong processes, and follow good governance.
Geographic Focus
India-first: Yali backs companies building from or for India, with a global outlook, aiming to help Indian deep-tech companies scale across borders.