NVIDIA and Qualcomm Ventures have joined a growing coalition of American and Indian investors backing India’s deep tech startups. The group launched in September with commitments of more than $1 billion, a timeline that aligns with India’s new ₹1 trillion (about $12 billion) research and development initiative.
NVIDIA joined the coalition as a strategic technical advisor, with no financial commitments, while Qualcomm Ventures participated along with 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 serving global customers, especially those in the US. The Indian government has sought to accelerate this shift as major economies vie for technological dominance. However, capital for such ventures remains scarce, as they require a longer gestation period than traditional sectors and most VCs prefer 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 this gap, bringing together seven major investors from the US and India – Accel, Blume Ventures, Premji Invest, Gaja Capital, Ideaspring Capital, Tenacity Venturesyst and Tenacity Venturesyst. 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 work 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, who want to support the development of the Indian deep tech ecosystem,” Sriram Viswanathan, founding partner of Celesta Capital and a founding member of IDTA’s executive board, said in an interview.
It was approved by the Indian cabinet earlier this year and unfolded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi this week, the ₹1 trillion RDI program will fund projects in areas such as energy security and transition, quantum computing, robotics, space technology, biotechnology and artificial intelligence through long-term loans, equity inflows and deep-tech capital allocations. Venture firms participating in the alliance plan to leverage the initiative to support India-based deep-tech startups.
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“This is, in some ways, the most important moment where the action of the Indian government will lead to the creation and formation of many of these deep-tech companies, and it will be backed by a number of VCs in India who are really looking at the development of this ecosystem,” Viswanathan told TechCrunch. “There is a shift in the Indian business ecosystem in favor of deep tech and we are all excited about that.”
The alliance brought in NVIDIA to provide strategic and technical guidance to its members and emerging startups. The US chipmaker – whose market value has soared amid the global AI boom – will advise on best practices for integrating NVIDIA’s AI and computing acceleration platforms, offer technical talks and training through the NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute, and contribute to policy dialogues between industry and government to advance India’s deep technology capabilities.
Although NVIDIA will not participate financially, Vishal Dhupar, NVIDIA’s CEO for South Asia, said the company will share technical expertise and scalable computing resources with Indian startups in the consortium.
“NVIDIA’s support is a pretty significant validation of the ecosystem, and their joining the IDTA is an endorsement of our collective goal that there is an opportunity for India to start seeing a rapid growth of that ecosystem,” Viswanathan told TechCrunch.
Unlike NVIDIA, Qualcomm joins the alliance with an investment focus. The San Diego-based chipmaker made its first investment in India in 2008, with early bets such as Google Maps rival MapmyIndia going public in late 2021. Qualcomm and Celesta also backed Indian drone maker IdeaForge, which is a public company from 2023.
However, Qualcomm’s involvement will extend beyond capital, said Rama Bethmangalkar, Managing Director of Qualcomm Ventures in India. The company plans to help startups connect with Qualcomm’s portfolio companies, partner networks and internal teams, he told TechCrunch.
“If you have like-minded people and other VCs have dedicated some of their resources, dollars, time and network, helping each other and then collectively working with the government, aligning with what the government is thinking in certain areas, whether it’s quantum, semiconductors, artificial intelligence or emerging technologies, it’s very important to be part of that group.
That said, the success of IDTA remains to be seen. Viswanathan described the alliance as a “loose coalition of the willing,” noting that participating investors continue to run their own programs.
“We’re working together to share knowledge, to share deal flow and all that,” he said when asked about progress since the alliance was launched in September.
It is also unclear how much of the capital each participant will contribute.
“We’re just collectively figuring out what the total commitment is in that ecosystem,” Viswanathan said. “This alliance is not a fund. There is no obligation, no allocation, if you will, of any deal. If Rama finds a deal, he will do it. If Rama sees fit to bring in other investors, he will share the deal with other investors he believes are important to this investment.”
India’s Deep Tech Funding rose 78% year over year to $1.6 billion in 2024, according to a report by IT industry body Nasscom and global consultancy Zinnov released in April. Although growth is promising, capital raised still lags far behind that in developed markets, especially the US
The alliance may help increase that number, but more importantly, it is expected to draw global attention — and, in turn, more investors and venture capital — to India’s startup ecosystem.
“What we need are standards to begin with,” Bethmangalkar said. “People are going to jump in. Entrepreneurs are going to get the capital of trust… In ten years, you’re going to start seeing them as companies that are listed on the main boards of our stock exchanges — science and technology-oriented companies.”
