NVIDIA and Qualcomm Ventures have joined a growing coalition of US and Indian investors backing India’s deep tech startups. The group was launched in September with commitments of more than $1 billion, timing it in line with India’s new ₹1 trillion (about $12 billion) research and development initiative.
NVIDIA has joined the alliance as a strategic technology advisor with no financial commitment, while Qualcomm Ventures has joined on board along with six Indian venture firms, bringing a total of additional capital commitments of more than $850 million.
India is home to over 180,000 startups and more than 120 unicorns. In its early years, much of the ecosystem closely mirrored Western business models, before evolving into SaaS companies serving global customers, particularly in the U.S. However, in recent years, India’s focus has shifted to building enterprises that tackle tough, infrastructure-level problems – from launching satellites and electrifying transportation to designing semiconductors. The Indian government has tried to accelerate this change as major economies race to secure technological sovereignty. Yet capital remains scarce for such ventures, as they require longer periods of time than traditional sectors and most VCs favor proven, low-risk models.
In September, Silicon Valley- and India-based Celesta Capital launched the India Deep Tech Alliance (IDTA) to bridge that gap, bringing together seven leading US and Indian investors – Accel, Bloom Ventures, Premji Invest, Gaza Capital, IdeaSpring Capital, Tenacity Ventures and Venture Catalysts. The latest additions include Indian venture firms Activate AI, Chiratae Ventures, InfoEdge Ventures, Kalaari Capital, Singularity Holdings and YourNest Venture Capital.
The alliance aims to invest capital over the next five to ten years and provide mentorship and network access to Indian deep-tech startups. It also plans to collaborate with the Government of India on its policy initiatives, including the recently launched Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) scheme.
“This is a coalition of people interested in supporting the growth of the Indian deep tech ecosystem,” Sriram Viswanathan, founding managing partner of Celesta Capital and founding executive council member of IDTA, said in an interview.
allowed by the Indian Cabinet earlier this year and roll Launched this week by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the ₹1 trillion RDI scheme will finance projects in areas such as energy security and transition, quantum computing, robotics, space tech, biotech and AI through long-term debt, equity infusion and allocation of deep-tech funds. Venture companies participating in the alliance plan to leverage the initiative to support deep-tech startups of Indian origin.
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“This is kind of the most important moment where the Indian government’s action will spur the creation and formation of many of these deep tech companies and will be supported by a lot of VCs in India who are really looking at developing this ecosystem,” Vishwanathan told TechCrunch. “There is a turning point in the Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem in favor of deep tech, and that is what we are all excited about.”
The alliance has engaged NVIDIA to provide strategic and technical guidance to its members and emerging startups. The US chipmaker – whose market value has soared amid the global boom in AI – will advise on best practices for integrating NVIDIA’s AI and accelerated computing platforms, offer technical talks and training through the NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute, and contribute to policy dialogue between industry and government to advance India’s deep tech capabilities, the alliance said in a statement.
Although NVIDIA will not participate financially, Vishal Dhoopar, NVIDIA’s managing director for South Asia, said the company will share technical insights and scalable computing resources with Indian startups in the alliance.
“NVIDIA’s support is a very important validation of the ecosystem, and their joining IDTA is a support of our collective objective that this is an opportunity for India to start seeing the incremental growth of this ecosystem,” Vishwanathan told TechCrunch.
Unlike NVIDIA, Qualcomm is joining the alliance with an investment focus. The San Diego-based chip maker made its first India investments in 2008, which also included Google Maps rival MapMyIndia, which went public in late 2021. Qualcomm and Celesta also backed Indian drone maker IdeaForge, which has been a publicly listed company since 2023.
However, Qualcomm’s involvement will extend beyond capital, said Ram Bethmangalkar, India managing director of Qualcomm Ventures. He told TechCrunch that the company plans to help startups connect with its portfolio companies, partner networks, and internal teams within Qualcomm.
“If you are like-minded and other VCs have allocated some of their resources, dollars, time and networks, it helps each other and then collectively to work with the government, to align with what the government is thinking on certain areas, whether it’s quantum, semiconductors, AI, or emerging technologies, it is very important to be part of that group,” he said.
The success of IDTA remains to be seen, he said. Vishwanathan described the alliance as a “loose alliance of the interested”, noting that the participating investors continue to run their own programs.
“We are collaborating to share knowledge, share deal flow and all these things,” he said when asked about progress since the alliance was launched in September.
It is also not clear how much capital each partner will contribute.
“We are collectively estimating what the total commitment to this ecosystem is,” Vishwanathan said. “This alliance is not a fund. There is no obligation to a deal, no allocation if you like. If Ram finds a deal, he will do that. If Ram finds it appropriate to bring in other investors, he will share the deal with other investors that he feels are relevant to that investment.”
India’s deep-tech funding Up 78% year-over-year to $1.6 billion in 2024, according to a report by IT industry body Nasscom and global consulting firm Zinnov released in April. Although growth is promising, capital raised still lags far behind developed markets, especially the US
The alliance could help increase that figure, but more importantly, it is expected to attract global attention – and, in turn, more investors and corporate venture funds – towards India’s startup ecosystem.
“For a start, we need role models,” Bethmangalkar said. “People are going to jump in. Entrepreneurs are going to get confidence capital… In ten years, you’ll start seeing these as companies listed on the main boards of our exchanges – deep science- and tech-oriented firms.”
