Ixigo co-founder announces ₹1cr fund to back IIT Kanpur graduates
What's the story
Rajnish Kumar, co-founder and group Co-CEO of ixigo, has launched a ₹1 crore fund to support graduating students from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur. The initiative, called Made in Fire Fund after Kumar's book of the same name, was announced during his recent visit to IIT Kanpur where he addressed the graduating class of 2026.
Entrepreneurial support
Fund aims to nurture entrepreneurial spirit among students
The Made in Fire Fund is designed to nurture the entrepreneurial spirit among graduating students.
Kumar said, "Every great company begins with one believer." He added that IIT Kanpur gave him the confidence to build before he even knew where that journey would lead.
The fund intends to be that early believer for graduating founders who are determined to build and solve meaningful problems.
Funding details
Selected founders will also get mentorship from Kumar
The Made in Fire Fund will provide ₹10 lakh in non-dilutive prototype funding to each of the 10 technology-led start-ups from every graduating batch.
Apart from financial support, the selected founders will also get mentorship from Kumar, ixigo's leadership team, and its wider network.
They will receive product reviews, go-to-market guidance, hiring support, and investor introductions where appropriate.
Selection criteria
Eligibility criteria for applying
The selection process for the Made in Fire Fund will prioritize founder conviction, depth of customer understanding, originality of insight, execution ability, long-term thinking, and coachability over a perfect pitch deck.
The initiative is open to graduating IIT Kanpur students applying individually or as founding teams.
It will focus on technology-led ventures solving meaningful problems across sectors such as artificial intelligence (AI), SaaS, consumer internet, and deep tech, among others.