Kumar Bahukhandi
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Capital was deployed across all five RDI Scheme’s priority sectors
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Announcement at SEMICON India 2026 marks one year since IDTA’s launch
Members of the India Deep Tech Alliance (IDTA) invested approximately INR 2,170 crores across 56 deep-tech companies between 1 September 2025 and 31 August 2026, as self-reported by IDTA members. IDTA announced the figure at SEMICON India 2026 today, approximately one year after the Alliance was launched as an industry-led initiative to mobilise long-term private capital, technical expertise and ecosystem support for Indian deep-tech companies.
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Shri. Ashwini Vaishnaw (Union Min for Electronics & IT), Mr. Arun Kumar (Chair, IDTA & Celesta Capital Managing Partner), Sriram Viswanathan, ECM, IDTA & Founding Managing Partner, Celesta Capital
The investments were made independently by individual IDTA members in accordance with their respective investment strategies and processes. The first-year figure reflects deepening investor conviction in India-built deep-tech companies and the breadth of capital deployment across strategic technology sectors.
Capital Deployed Across Five Priority Sectors of RDI Scheme
Artificial intelligence and its application to Indian problems drew approximately INR 639 crores across 16 companies. Deep technology spanning quantum computing, robotics and space accounted for approximately INR 649 crores across 21 companies.
Energy security and transition, and climate action attracted approximately INR 655 crores across 8 companies; biotechnology, biomanufacturing, synthetic biology and pharmaceuticals approximately INR 189 crores across 7 companies; and the digital economy, including digital agriculture, approximately INR 38 crores across 4 companies.
Beyond Capital
IDTA was established around the premise that deep-tech companies require more than financing alone. Successful commercialisation also requires access to technical expertise, research capabilities, manufacturing and supply-chain partners, customers, global markets and an enabling policy environment. The Alliance brings together investors, corporations and industry associations to strengthen these connections while preserving the independence of each member’s investment decisions.
Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India said, “India has built a strong foundation of scientific talent and research capability; the next imperative is to translate this strength into globally competitive technologies, products and enterprises. Deep-tech innovation requires patient capital and sustained support through research, validation, commercialisation and scale. The capital deployed by IDTA members in the five priority sectors identified under the RDI Scheme is an encouraging indication of growing private-sector confidence in India’s innovation ecosystem. The RDI Scheme and industry-led initiatives can complement each other in strengthening the pathways through which promising technologies move from the laboratory to the market and create long-term strategic and economic value for India.”
Sriram Viswanathan, Executive Committee Member, India Deep Tech Alliance & Founding Managing Partner, Celesta Capital, said, “When we announced the launch of IDTA at SEMICON India 2025, our conviction was that India’s deep-tech opportunity required a sustained, industry-led effort bringing together patient capital, technical expertise and pathways to commercial scale. One year later, the nearly INR 2,170 crores invested by IDTA members across more than 50 promising companies shows that this vision is beginning to translate into measurable action. The progress of IDTA members over the past year demonstrates that private capital is moving alongside India’s national ambition and the investments announced today are tangible evidence of that momentum. This is an important first milestone, but the larger task is to help India’s deep-tech companies build enduring businesses, access global markets and emerge as technology leaders in their respective fields.”
About the India Deep Tech Alliance
The India Deep Tech Alliance is an industry-led consortium of investors, corporates, technology partners, and ecosystem stakeholders focused on accelerating India’s deep tech companies across AI, semiconductors, advanced computing, robotics, biotech, and more. IDTA convenes capital access, technical mentorship, market linkages, and policy engagement to help founders build globally competitive technology companies from India.
Learn more at idtalliance.org.
Additional Quotes:
Ravi Kiran Vadapally, Executive Committee Member, India Deep Tech Alliance & Chief Financial Officer & Partner (Early Stage), Premji Invest said, “A year into this journey, our conviction in India’s deep tech opportunity has only strengthened. Over the past twelve months, we have been active on the ground — committing risk capital to early-stage companies across deep tech including – semiconductors, defence tech, bio tech, robotics, and AI. The quality of entrepreneurship we are seeing convinces us this ecosystem is inflecting. Building globally competitive companies in strategic and sunrise domains takes more than capital alone — it requires patient partnership, deep sector expertise, and a willingness to walk with founders through the hard, capital-intensive early years. That is the role we see for ourselves in this consortium. We remain fully committed to working alongside the government and our fellow partners to strengthen the surrounding ecosystem — talent, infrastructure, and follow-on capital — so that the companies in this sector have a real shot at becoming tomorrow’s global champions.”
Gopal Jain, Executive Committee Member, India Deep Tech Alliance & Managing Director & CEO, Gaja Capital, said, “India has no shortage of scientific talent or ambitious founders. The critical opportunity is to build stronger pathways through which research can become intellectual property, commercially viable products, and scalable companies. The breadth of investment by IDTA members is an encouraging indication that more Indian innovations are beginning to make that transition. Over the past three decades we have seen the emergence of an entrepreneurial ecosystem in India. Now we are witnessing the emergence of an innovation ecosystem”
Pranav Pai, Executive Committee Member, India Deep Tech Alliance & Managing Partner, 3one4 Capital, said, “India has deep reserves of scientific talent and ambitious founders. The critical need is to build stronger pathways through which research becomes commercially viable products, protected intellectual property and companies that can scale. India is now integrating a continuum of research, grants and equity to fund innovation across sectors, and the breadth of investment by IDTA members reflects how quickly that opportunity is widening.”
