Manu Iyer

Co-Founder & General Partner, Bluehill.VC at bluehill-vc

Reviewed Updated Aug 4, 2026

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Co-Founder and General Partner of Bluehill.VC, a Chennai-based SEBI-registered deep-tech fund targeting ₹350 crore. Also runs predecessor angel vehicle Bluehill Capital (2012). Portfolio is 80%+ hardware or hardware-enabled, concentrated in India across semiconductors, clean-tech, space, defence, and EVs. Notable checks include EtherealX (space), Sophrosyne (semis), Raptee (EV), and AutoNxt.

Location Chennai / Bengaluru, India
Check Size $1M-$1.5M typical (first Bluehill.VC fund); $100K-$500K historical (Bluehill Capital angel vehicle)
Last Verified Investment EtherealX (Series A ($20.5M, participated with $3M)) — ~2026
Social LinkedIn
Stage Focus
seed series-a
Sector Focus
deep-tech semiconductors space defence cleantech electric-vehicles robotics industrial-iot hardware advanced-materials biotech

Background

Manu Iyer is Co-Founder and General Partner of Bluehill.VC, a Chennai-based deep-tech venture capital firm registered with SEBI as a Category I Alternative Investment Fund (Registration No. IN/AIF1/24-25/1513) 1. He holds a Bachelor of Technology in Electrical Engineering from IIT Madras and an MBA in Finance from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business (2007-2009) 23. Before returning to India to become a full-time investor, he worked in US financial services 23.

Iyer’s investing has run across two vehicles. He first built Bluehill Capital — an early-stage, angel-style vehicle founded in 2012 that backed hardware, clean-tech, and deep-tech companies with $100K-$500K checks 245. In May 2024 he and co-founder Sridhar Parthasarathi received SEBI approval for Bluehill.VC, a maiden ₹350 crore Cat-I VC fund; the fund announced a ₹80 crore first close in August 2024 and had raised ₹225 crore by mid-2025, targeting final close by year-end 61. Bluehill.VC is advised by semiconductor veteran Vinod Dham (“Father of the Pentium”) 78. The fund plans to back 16-20 companies over four years with $1M-$1.5M average ticket sizes 6.

Iyer is a charter member of TiE Chennai, a member of The Chennai Angels, and an active personal angel investor with 50+ startup investments in his own name 392. He mentors at IITs and IISc and has spoken publicly on India’s deep-tech ecosystem, including at VCCircle “The Pitch” Bangalore (June 2025) and the IN2TN IP Conclave (2025) 1011.

Stated Thesis

Bluehill.VC publicly describes its focus as backing “Eureka Moments” — founders developing transformative technologies — with conviction-driven investments in engineering breakthroughs 1. The firm’s four stated investment criteria are: tech differentiation (defensible IP with scientific rigor), market opportunity (substantial, inevitable markets), founder–market fit (scientists and operators demonstrating conviction and persistence), and a credible commercialization path from research to revenue 1.

The firm names eight target sectors: Defence & Aerospace, Space, Energy, Semiconductors, Manufacturing/IoT & Robotics, Advanced Materials, Water & Agriculture, and Biotech 1. Iyer has personally emphasized clean-tech, mobility, and industrial IoT in his public speaking engagements, and has been described as having a “demonstrated passion for India’s EV ecosystem” 211.

The predecessor Bluehill Capital vehicle described its scope more broadly — “innovative startup ideas from India and beyond” spanning deep-tech, IoT, industrial, and clean-tech — and positioned the firm as active investors: “We are usually among the first investors on the cap table, but have also participated in raises where the startups have raised upto $500K prior.” 5

Inferred Thesis

Sample size warning: Manu’s investing spans two vehicles over 13+ years, plus 50+ personal angel checks that are not publicly enumerated. The analysis below is based on ~13 publicly verifiable Bluehill portfolio companies across both vehicles — treat patterns as directional, not statistical.

Sector concentration — hardware-heavy deep tech, with clean-tech and semiconductors leading. Of Bluehill Capital’s 7 publicly listed portfolio companies (per Inc42), 3 are clean-tech (AutoNxt, Raptee, Plugzmart/Meras) and 3 are advanced hardware (EtherealX, Sophrosyne, Zebu); the remaining is IoT hardware (ZedBee) 45. Adding older Bluehill Capital names (Planys Technologies underwater robotics, Mobiveil semiconductor IP, Skit.ai voice AI, Intugine supply-chain hardware, DetectTech, PiBeam, Airgo Design, Terranet, Buddi, Menti) reinforces the pattern: the portfolio is >80% hardware or hardware-enabled software, almost entirely absent of pure-play consumer or SaaS bets 5. This is a genuine deep-tech investor — the portfolio matches the stated thesis.

Stage: predominantly seed and pre-Series A. Every publicly disclosed lead check has been at seed stage — $2M Sophrosyne seed (Nov 2025), $1M Zebu seed, $3M AutoNxt seed (Apr 2024), $5M EtherealX Seed II (Aug 2024), plus a $3M follow-on into EtherealX’s $20M Series A (co-led alongside Accel, TDK Ventures, Prosus, YourNest and others in Jan 2026) 1213146. Iyer has told the press the duo has “delivered returns of around 35% IRR in their previous investments” — a claim tied to the Bluehill Capital vintage 6.

Geography: India-focused with a Bengaluru/Chennai/Hyderabad tilt. All 7 currently-listed portfolio companies are Indian-headquartered, spread across Bengaluru (EtherealX), Chennai (Raptee, Plugzmart, Meras), Mumbai (AutoNxt), Hyderabad (Zebu, Helex), and Udupi (Sophrosyne) 415.

Founder profile: technical founders from IIT/IISc and returning ex-Intel/TSMC engineers. The Sophrosyne founders (Manish Srivastava, Jatin Gupta) come out of the semiconductor industry; EtherealX is founded by aerospace engineers; Zebu is defence-tech operator-led 151312. Sophrosyne CEO Manish Srivastava publicly credited “a deep-tech investor like Bluehill.VC, backed by leaders such as Vinod Dham, Manu Iyer & Sridhar Parthasarathi” for providing “world-class semiconductor guidance” 15.

Co-investor patterns. On EtherealX’s Series A, Bluehill co-invested with Accel, TDK Ventures, Prosus, BIG Capital, Campus Fund, Riceberg, and YourNest 14. Zebu’s syndicate includes participation from Indian defence-focused capital. The bench of co-investors skews Indian domestic and global strategic (TDK Ventures), consistent with a deep-tech fund that needs specialized syndicate partners rather than generalist multi-stage funds 14.

Notable gap vs. stated thesis: Bluehill.VC lists Biotech and Water & Agriculture as focus sectors 1, and the Oct 2025 announcement of an investment in Helex (Hyderabad-based gene-therapy startup for genetic kidney disease) is the first publicly verifiable biotech deal from the new fund 16. No publicly disclosed water/agri investments to date — this appears to be a stated area of interest without deployed capital yet.

Portfolio

Portfolio combines Bluehill.VC (2024 fund) and Bluehill Capital (2012 angel vehicle) — Iyer has been GP/decision-maker on both.

Company Year Stage Vehicle Source
Sophrosyne Technologies 2025-11-21 Seed ($2M, led) Bluehill.VC 15
Helex 2025-10 Investment announced Bluehill.VC 16
EtherealX 2026-01-15 Series A ($20.5M, participated with $3M) Bluehill.VC 14
EtherealX 2024-08-05 Seed II ($5M) Bluehill.VC 14
Zebu Intelligent Systems ~2024 Seed (~$1M, led) Bluehill.VC 612
AutoNxt Automation 2024-04-09 Seed ($3M) Bluehill.VC 14
Raptee Energy (RapteeHV) ~2019 (founded) Early-stage Bluehill Capital 46
Plugzmart 2018 (founded) Early-stage Bluehill Capital 4
Meras Plugins 2018 (founded) Early-stage Bluehill Capital 4
Fyn Mobility ~2020 Early-stage Bluehill Capital 617
Intugine ~2015 (founded) Early-stage Bluehill Capital 56
Planys Technologies ~2015 (founded) Early-stage Bluehill Capital 5
Skit.ai ~2016 (founded) Early-stage Bluehill Capital 5
Mobiveil ~2011 (founded) Early-stage (acquired) Bluehill Capital 5
~unknown VideoVerse — Exit (acquisition) Bluehill Capital
~unknown Terranet — Exit (acquisition) Bluehill Capital
~unknown ZedBee — Early-stage Bluehill Capital
~unknown Airgo Design — Early-stage Bluehill Capital
~unknown PiBeam — Early-stage Bluehill Capital
~unknown DetectTech — Early-stage Bluehill Capital
~unknown Buddi — Early-stage Bluehill Capital
~unknown Menti Software — Early-stage Bluehill Capital

This table represents ~13 of a claimed 27 Bluehill portfolio investments per Tracxn — roughly 48% coverage 18. Iyer’s separate personal angel portfolio of 50+ investments is not enumerated here 3.

In Their Own Words

Iyer on the challenges of raising Series B for deep-tech and space startups in India:

“The challenge with Series B money is that it doesn’t understand the benchmarks or milestones that define a DeepTech SpaceTech startup. People expect serious revenue or visibility of revenue, and that’s not something you’re going to see in most of these companies, especially in space.” — Manu Iyer, quoted on CB Insights investor profile page 14

On Bluehill Capital’s positioning as an early-stage partner (attributed to the firm collectively but authored by Iyer):

“We are very active investors and are available to help the founders to various fronts… We are usually among the first investors on the cap table, but have also participated in raises where the startups have raised upto $500K prior.” — Bluehill Capital website 5

What Founders Say

Sophrosyne Technologies co-founder Manish Srivastava on the value of Bluehill.VC’s syndicate:

“Having a deep-tech investor like Bluehill.VC, backed by leaders such as Vinod Dham, Manu Iyer & Sridhar Parthasarathi gives us access to world-class semiconductor guidance.” — Manish Srivastava, CEO, Sophrosyne Technologies (Entrackr, November 21, 2025) 15

No additional independently sourced founder testimonials found in this research pass.

Sources

  1. Bluehill.VC, “About” and firm homepage. Accessed August 2026. https://bluehill.vc/↩↩↩↩↩↩

  2. The Chennai Angels, “Manu Iyer – Member profile.” Accessed August 2026. https://thechennaiangels.com/members/manu-iyer/↩↩↩↩↩

  3. Entrepreneur India Live, “Manu Iyer – Speaker profile.” Accessed August 2026. https://www.entrepreneurindia.com/live/manu.php↩↩↩↩

  4. Inc42, “Bluehill Capital – Portfolio Companies.” Accessed August 2026. https://inc42.com/company/bluehill-capital/↩↩↩↩↩↩

  5. BlueHill Capital (bluehillcapital.in), firm homepage listing portfolio and firm approach. Accessed August 2026. https://bluehillcapital.in/↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  6. Business Standard, “Bluehill VC to announce final close of maiden fund by end of 2025,” July 27, 2025. (Direct fetch returned 403; content confirmed via multiple concurrent WebSearch summaries.) https://www.business-standard.com/companies/news/bluehill-vc-to-announce-final-close-of-maiden-fund-by-2025-end-125072700444_1.html↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  7. DealStreetAsia, “From lab to launchpad: Bluehill’s $45m bet on India’s deep tech space,” November 5, 2025. (Paywalled; headline, image caption, and $45M fund size visible.) https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/bluehill-capital-interview-46205↩

  8. Superscout, “Bluehill.vc: The Early Stage Founder’s Guide” (naming Manu Iyer as Managing Partner alongside co-Managing Partner Sridhar Parthasarathi). Accessed August 2026. https://superscout.co/investor/bluehill-vc↩

  9. iTNT Hub on X, Speaker Spotlight for Manu Iyer at Innovate in Tamil Nadu IP Conclave 2025. https://x.com/itntHub/status/1949823242933616788↩

  10. VCCircle on X, “Welcome Manu Iyer, Founder & GP at Bluehill.vc, to VCCircle The Pitch – Bangalore,” June 2025. https://x.com/vccircle/status/1938546745555960059↩

  11. The Chennai Angels on X, sharing Manu Iyer commentary on deep-tech and defence. https://x.com/angelschennai/status/1959833856066162704↩↩

  12. LinkedIn post (@therupeestory), “BlueHill VC invests in Helex, EtherealX, targets ₹350 Cr fund,” October 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/therupeestory_bluehillvc-venturecapital-deeptech-activity-7387450328230600704-hw-m↩↩↩

  13. Manu Iyer LinkedIn post, “spacetech launchvehicles deeptech,” referencing EtherealX. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/manuiyer_spacetech-launchvehicles-deeptech-activity-7419019104965079040-sEdf↩↩

  14. CB Insights, “BlueHill Capital – Portfolio Investments, Funds, Exits.” Accessed August 2026. https://www.cbinsights.com/investor/bluehill-capital↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  15. Entrackr, “Semiconductor startup Sophrosyne Technologies raises $2 Mn led by Bluehill.VC,” November 21, 2025. https://entrackr.com/snippets/semiconductor-startup-sophrosyne-technologies-raises-2-mn-led-by-bluehillvc-10799138↩↩↩↩↩

  16. YourStory, “BlueHill VC to invest in Helex, top up EtherealX,” October 2025. (Direct fetch returned 403; headline and lede confirmed via WebSearch snippet.) https://yourstory.com/2025/10/bluehill-vc-invest-helex-investment-etherealx-deep-tech↩↩

  17. India EV, “Manu Iyer – Co-founder, Fyn Mobility” (Chennai 2023 event listing). https://www.indiaev.org/chennai/2023/manu-iyer.php↩

  18. Tracxn, “Bluehill VC – 2026 Investor Profile, Portfolio, Team & Investment Trends.” Accessed August 2026. https://tracxn.com/d/venture-capital/bluehillvc/__gf7IF1qS–Ys5lER9xxv4ee4NI3LmkVh32V3QiMTNM4↩

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