Mumbai, 28th October, 2026: Twenty-five years after graduating from IIT Kanpur, Rajnish Kumar, Co-founder & Group Co-CEO of ixigo and author of Made in Fire, today 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.
Announcing the initiative, Rajnish Kumar, Co-founder & Group Co-CEO, ixigo, said, "Every great company begins with one believer. Twenty-five years ago, IIT Kanpur gave me the confidence to build before I knew where that journey would lead. The Made in Fire Fund is my way of paying that belief forward. We want to back builders early, not because they have the perfect pitch deck, but because they have conviction, understand a real problem deeply and have the ability to build. My hope is that some of these founders will return years from now and become the first believers in the generation after them.”
Expressing his gratitude, Prof. Manindra Agrawal, Director, IIT Kanpur, stated, “Entrepreneurship fuels national development by creating jobs, driving innovation, and generating economic growth. While our students possess technical capabilities, the journey from idea to impact depends on early encouragement, mentorship, and access to experienced entrepreneurs. The launch of the Made in Fire Fund by our distinguished alumnus, Rajnish Kumar, demonstrates how giving back can support and sustain an entrepreneurial mindset among our students. I hope this motivates more graduating students to pursue entrepreneurship with confidence and creates a cycle where each generation of founders helps the next build new ventures."
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/
