US and Indian coalition of VCs pledges $1B+ to fund India’s deep tech startups: Report

A coalition of eight venture capital and private equity firms from the United States and India has pledged more than $1 billion to support deep tech startups in India, according to a recent report by Techcrunch.

The India Deep Tech Investment Alliance brings together Accel, Blume Ventures, Celesta Capital, Gaja Capital, Ideaspring Capital, Premji Invest, Tenacity Ventures and Venture Catalysts. The firms said in a joint statement that they would deploy capital over the next five to ten years into Indian-domiciled startups specialising in areas such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, space technology, robotics and climate-focused solutions.

The launch of the alliance follows the Indian government's approval of a Research, Development and Innovation scheme worth roughly $11 billion, announced in the national budget earlier this year to incentivise deep tech research and development, as per the report.

Celesta Capital, which has previously backed Indian ventures including space-tech firm Agnikul and drone manufacturer IdeaForge, spearheaded the formation of the alliance after discussions with policymakers and industry stakeholders. Arun Kumar, managing partner at Celesta Capital, will serve as the inaugural chair. The alliance will initially focus on early-stage companies, from seed to Series B, rather than later-stage ventures, states the report.