NVIDIA and Qualcomm Ventures join a growing coalition of US and Indian investors backing deep tech startups in India. The group launched in September with more than $1 billion in funding, timed to coincide with India's new 1 trillion rupee (about $12 billion) research and development initiative.
NVIDIA joined the coalition as a strategic technology advisor without funding, while Qualcomm Ventures joined along with six Indian venture companies and provided additional capital totaling more than $850 million.
India is home to over 180,000 startups and over 120 unicorns. In the early years, much of the ecosystem closely mirrored Western business models and has since evolved into SaaS companies serving customers around the world, especially those in the United States. But in recent years, India's focus has shifted to building ventures that tackle more difficult infrastructure-scale problems, from satellite launches and transportation electrification to semiconductor design. The Indian government has sought to accelerate this change as major economies compete to secure technological sovereignty. But funding remains scarce as these ventures require longer conception periods than traditional sectors and most venture capitalists prefer proven, low-risk models.
In September, Silicon Valley and India-based Celeste Capital spearheaded the launch of the India Deep Tech Alliance (IDTA) to bridge that gap, bringing together seven major investors from the US and India: Accel, Bloom Ventures, Premji Invest, Gaja Capital, IdeaSpring Capital, Tenacity Ventures, and Venture Catalyst. The latest additions include Indian venture firms Activate AI, Chiratae Ventures, InfoEdge Ventures, Kalaari Capital, Singularity Holdings, and YourNest Venture Capital.
The coalition aims to invest capital and provide mentorship and network access to deep tech startups in India over the next five to 10 years. It also plans to collaborate with the Indian government on policy initiatives, including the recently introduced Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) scheme.
“This is a coalition of like-minded people who want to help develop India's deep tech ecosystem,” Sriram Viswanathan, founding managing partner of Celesta Capital and founding executive council member of IDTA, said in an interview.
Approved by India's Cabinet earlier this year and launched this week by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Rs 1 trillion RDI scheme will fund projects in areas such as energy security and transition, quantum computing, robotics, space technology, biotechnology and AI through long-term loans, equity infusions and allocations to a deep-tech fund of funds. The venture companies participating in this partnership plan to leverage this initiative to support deep tech startups based in India.
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“This is in some ways the most seminal moment where the Indian government's actions will facilitate the creation and formation of many of these deep tech companies and will be supported by a number of VCs in India who are seriously looking at developing this ecosystem,” Viswanathan told TechCrunch. “There is a tipping point in the Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem in favor of deep technology and that is what we are all excited about.”
Image credit: IDTA
NVIDIA joined the alliance to provide strategic and technical guidance to members and emerging startups. The US chipmaker, whose market value is soaring amid the global AI boom, will advise on best practices for integrating NVIDIA's AI and accelerated computing platforms, provide technical consultation and training through the NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute, and contribute to policy dialogue between industry and government to improve India's deep technology capabilities, the alliance said in a statement.
Although NVIDIA will not participate financially, Vishal Dhupar, NVIDIA's managing director for South Asia, said the company will share technological insights and scalable computing resources with Indian startups that join the coalition.
“NVIDIA's support is a very important validation of the ecosystem, and NVIDIA's joining IDTA is an endorsement of our collective goal that India has an opportunity to start rapidly growing this ecosystem,” Viswanathan told TechCrunch.
Unlike NVIDIA, Qualcomm participates in alliances with an investment focus. The San Diego-based chipmaker made its first investment in India in 2008, with early investments including Google Maps rival Mapme India, which went public in late 2021. Qualcomm and Celesta are also supporting Indian drone maker Ideaforge, which has been listed as a publicly traded company since 2023.
However, Qualcomm Ventures' India managing director Rama Besmangakarkar said Qualcomm's participation will extend beyond capital. He told TechCrunch that the company plans to help startups connect with portfolio companies, partner networks and internal teams within Qualcomm.
“If you're like-minded and other venture capitalists are allocating certain parts of their resources, money, time, networks, it's really important to be part of that group to help each other and collectively work with the government and align with the government's thinking in certain areas like quantum, semiconductors, AI, emerging technologies,” he said.
However, IDTA's success remains to be seen. Mr. Viswanathan described the partnership as a “loose coalition of volunteers,” noting that participating investors continue to run their own programs.
Asked about progress since the partnership began in September, he said: “We're working together to share knowledge, share transaction flows, all of that.”
It is also unclear how much money each participant will contribute.
“We are collectively estimating what our total commitment to this ecosystem will be,” Viswanathan said. “This partnership is not a fund. There are no obligations or allocations for any trades. When Llama finds a trade, he will execute it. If Llama deems it appropriate to bring in other investors, he will share the trade with other investors he deems relevant to the investment.”
According to a report released in April by IT industry association Nascom and global consulting firm Zinnoff, deep tech funding in India will increase 78% year-on-year to $1.6 billion in 2024. Although growth is promising, capital raised still lags far behind developed markets, especially the US.
This partnership may help increase this number, but more importantly, it is expected to draw global attention to India's startup ecosystem, which in turn attracts more investors and corporate venture funds.
“The first thing we need is role models,” Bethmangalkar said. “People are going to jump on board. Entrepreneurs are going to have capital of confidence…In 10 years, you're going to see these companies listed on the main boards of our exchanges, companies that are deeply focused on science and technology.”