India’s deep tech sector is set to receive a major push, with eight leading Indian and US venture capital and private equity firms committing $1 billion to fund startups working on advanced technologies. The initiative, finalised in less than a month, has already begun making its first investments.
Who’s Backing the Initiative
The participating firms include Celesta Capital, Premji Invest, Accel, Blume Ventures, Gaja Capital, Venture Catalysts, Tenacity, and IdeaSpring. Together, they plan to provide funding, technical support, and policy advocacy for startups building foundational technologies.
According to investors, the Indian government is expected to match the funds on a one-to-one basis, effectively doubling the pool to at least $2 billion.
“We put this together in just a month. The willingness to commit was very high, and we expect more firms to join,” said Sriram Viswanathan, Founding Managing Partner at Celesta Capital.
Why It Matters
Deep tech in India has historically lagged due to high capital requirements and long development cycles. As of April 2025, India had only about 1,000 startups in this space — a figure Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal called “a disturbing situation,” urging startups to innovate beyond consumer internet and services.
The government has also launched initiatives like the Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) scheme with a corpus of ₹1 lakh crore, aimed at scaling up R&D in areas such as semiconductors, defense, space, and biotech.
Strategic Focus Areas
The new funding effort will target sectors identified as “strategic sunrise areas”, including:
- Semiconductors
- Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Robotics
- Defense and Space Technology
- Bioconvergence
- Cloud Computing
- Medical Devices
Celesta Capital has already deployed investments under this initiative — backing OneCell Diagnostics, which uses AI to detect cancer tumour cells, and 5C Networks, which applies machine learning to radiology scans.
Not a Traditional Fund
Unlike a pooled fund, each investor will make independent bets but collaborate on technical diligence, operational support, and policy engagement. “This is not about consumer internet or e-commerce companies. It’s really about foundational technology,” Viswanathan said.
Outlook
With private investors committing $1 billion and the government expected to match this, India could see $2 billion channelled into deep tech startups. For a sector long constrained by funding gaps, this marks one of the strongest coordinated pushes yet to scale innovation in critical technologies.
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