A group of eight US and Indian venture capital and private equity firms have pledged more than $1 billion to back Indian deep tech startups, creating what they call the ‘India Deep Tech Investment Alliance’, reports TechCrunch. The effort represents a departure from the industry’s typical competitive model, with established firms choosing to pool capital and influence to address one of the country’s most persistent funding gaps. The firms included in this alliance are Accel, Blume Ventures, Premji Invest, Tenacity Ventures, and others.
For years, India’s venture ecosystem has concentrated capital in consumer-facing businesses such as food delivery, e-commerce, and digital payments. Deep-tech startups however, working in areas like advanced robotics, semiconductors, and biotechnology, often require longer development cycles and face higher commercialization risks. Industry insiders have long argued that this mismatch stunted India’s innovation potential, a critique echoed earlier this year by India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal. Goyal called out the lack of funding for research-led ventures, leading to startups mostly focused on consumer facing products such as food deliveries, ecommerce etc. Founders responded by pointing to investors’ reluctance to back businesses that take years, not quarters, to generate returns.
The alliance aims to fill this gap by targeting early-stage companies from seed through Series B, with a focus on AI, climate tech, semiconductor manufacturing, and biotech. The timing is not coincidental and earlier this year, the Indian government announced a ₹1 trillion ($11 billion) Research, Development, and Innovation (RDI) scheme to provide long-term loans for startups in critical tech. It is expected that the investment will help nurture startups that have historically struggled to access funding due to long development timelines and high risks, as well as accelerate the commercialization of breakthrough tech within India, supporting government goals under the RDI scheme to build self-reliance and reduce dependence on imports.
Sriram Vishwanathan of Celesta Capital, one of the founding members, described the bloc as not just a pool of funds but a “forum to interact with government stakeholders” and ensure that private capital complements state priorities. Beyond capital, members of the alliance have committed to providing mentorship, technical expertise, and network access. US firms in the group are expected to help Indian startups tap into global supply chains and potential customers, while Indian members could support US-based portfolio companies expanding into South Asia.
This development arrives at a time when US-India tech relations are tense. Earlier in the year, the two governments launched a bilateral tech partnership intended to boost cooperation in semiconductors, quantum computing, and AI. Yet, tensions over tariffs and a sharp escalation in trade and diplomatic disputes remain. President Trump has repeatedly called the relationship “one-sided” and a “disaster.” While the India Deep Tech Investment Alliance seems to be focused on long-term funding, the tariffs and geopolitical uncertainty have injected risk for cross-border ventures, which in turn has raised costs for hardware imports, slowed regulatory approvals, and made access to US markets and mentorship less predictable.
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