NVIDIA and Qualcomm Ventures have joined a growing coalition of U.S. and Indian investors backing India’s deep tech startups. The group launched in September with more than $1 billion in commitments, timing that aligns with India’s new ₹1 trillion (around $12 billion) research and development initiative.
NVIDIA has joined the coalition as a strategic technical advisor, without any financial commitments, while Qualcomm Ventures has come on board alongside six Indian venture firms, bringing additional capital commitments totaling more than $850 million.
India is home to more than 180,000 startups and over 120 unicorns. In its early years, much of the ecosystem closely mirrored Western business models before evolving into SaaS companies that serve global clients, especially those in the U.S. In recent years, however, India’s focus has shifted to building ventures that tackle harder, infrastructure-scale problems — from launching satellites and electrifying transportation to designing semiconductors. The Indian government has sought to accelerate this shift as major economies race to secure technological sovereignty. Yet capital for such ventures remains scarce, as they require a longer gestation period than traditional sectors and most VCs favor proven, lower-risk models.
In September, Silicon Valley- and India-based Celesta Capital spearheaded the launch of the India Deep Tech Alliance (IDTA) to bridge that gap, bringing together seven major U.S. and Indian investors — Accel, Blume Ventures, Premji Invest, Gaja Capital, Ideaspring Capital, Tenacity Ventures, and Venture Catalysts. The latest addition includes 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 Indian deep-tech startups over the next five to ten years. It also plans to collaborate with the Indian government on its policy initiatives, including the recently introduced Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) scheme.
“It’s a coalition of the willing, wanting to support the development of the Indian deep tech ecosystem,” Sriram Viswanathan, founding managing partner of Celesta Capital and founding executive council member of the IDTA, said in an interview.
Approved by the Indian cabinet earlier this year and rolled out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi this week, the ₹1 trillion RDI scheme will fund projects in areas such as energy security and transition, quantum computing, robotics, space tech, biotech, and AI through long-term loans, equity infusions, and allocations to deep-tech funds of funds. The venture firms participating in the alliance plan to leverage the initiative to back Indian-domiciled deep-tech startups.
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“This is, in a way, the most seminal moment where the Indian government’s action will drive creation and the formation of many of these deep tech companies and will be supported by a number of VCs in India that are really looking at developing this ecosystem,” Viswanathan told TechCrunch. “There is a turning point in the Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem in favor of deep tech, and that’s what we’re all excited about.”
Image Credits:IDTA
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