Twenty-five years after graduating from IIT Kanpur, Rajnish Kumar, Co-founder & Group Co-CEO of ixigo and author of Made in Fire, has announced the launch of the Made in Fire Fund, a ₹1 crore founder initiative to support graduating IIT Kanpur students as they take their first steps into entrepreneurship.
The initiative was announced following Kumar’s return to IIT Kanpur, where he addressed the graduating Class of 2026 as Guest of Honour. Built around a simple belief, every great company begins with one believer; the Made in Fire Fund aims to become that early believer for graduating founders with the conviction to build and the ambition to solve meaningful problems.
Launched with the Class of 2026, the fund will support 10 technology-led startups from each graduating batch, with INR 10 lakh in non-dilutive prototype funding for every selected startup. Beyond funding, founders will gain access to mentorship from Rajnish Kumar, ixigo’s leadership team, and the broader ixigo Mafia, the network of entrepreneurs and companies founded by former ixigo team members. Selected founders will also receive product reviews, go-to-market guidance, hiring support and investor introductions where appropriate, along with an opportunity to present their progress at a Demo Day after 6 to 12 months.
Adopting a founder-first rather than pitch-deck-first philosophy, the selection process will prioritise founder conviction, depth of customer understanding, originality of insight, execution ability, long-term thinking and coachability. Open to graduating IIT Kanpur students applying individually or as founding teams, the initiative will focus on technology-led ventures solving meaningful problems across sectors such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), SaaS, Consumer Internet, Deep Tech, Climate, Mobility, HealthTech, Enterprise Software and other emerging technology domains.
Applications for the Made in Fire Fund are now open for the IIT Kanpur Class of 2026. Interested students can learn more and apply at: https://madeinfire.co/fund/apply/
