NVIDIA, Qualcomm join U.S., Indian VCs to help build India’s next deep tech startups

NVIDIA and Qualcomm Ventures join a growing coalition of US and Indian investors backing deep tech startups in India The group launched in September with more $1 billion in pledgesTiming that coincides with India’s new ₹1 trillion (about $12 billion) research and development initiative.

NVIDIA has joined the alliance as a strategic technical advisor with no financial commitment, while Qualcomm Ventures has come on board alongside six Indian venture firms, bringing a total capital commitment of over $850 million.

India has over 180,000 startups and over 120 unicorns. In the early years, most of the ecosystem closely mirrored Western business models before evolving into SaaS companies that serve global clients, particularly in the US.In recent years, however, India’s focus has shifted from satellite launches and semicon transport to electrifying transportation to building enterprises that tackle difficult, infrastructure-scale problems. The Indian government has sought to accelerate this transition as major economies race to secure technological sovereignty. Yet capital for such ventures remains scarce, as they require longer gestation periods than traditional sectors and most VCs favor proven, low-risk models.

In September, Silicon Valley- and India-based Celesta Capital led the launch of the India Deep Tech Alliance (IDTA) to bridge that gap, bringing together seven major US and Indian investors — Accel, Blume Ventures, Premji Invest, Gaja Capital, Ideaspring Capital, Tenacity Ventures, and Ventures. The latest additions include Indian venture firms Activate AI, Chirate Ventures, InfoAge Ventures, Colori Capital, Singularity Holdings and Urnest Venture Capital.

The alliance aims to invest capital and provide mentorship and network access to Indian deep-tech startups over the next five to ten years. It plans to collaborate with the Government of India on its policy initiatives, including the recently launched Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) scheme.

“It’s a coalition of the willing, which wants to support the development 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 Indian cabinet earlier this year and rolled out Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi this week, the ₹1 trillion RDI scheme will finance projects in areas such as energy security and transformation, quantum computing, robotics, space tech, biotech and AI through long-term loans, equity infusions and allocation of funds to deep-technology funds. Venture firms participating in the alliance plan to leverage initiatives to support Indian-resident deep-tech startups.

“This is, in a way, the most important moment where Indian government action will drive the creation and formation of many of these deep tech companies and will be backed by several VCs in India who are really looking to develop this ecosystem,” Viswanathan told TechCrunch. “There is a turning point in the Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem in favor of deep technology, and we are all excited about this.”

The alliance brings NVIDIA in 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, provide technical discussions and training through the NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute, and contribute to policy dialogue between industry and government, Power India’s deep-technology statement said.

While NVIDIA will not participate financially, Vishal Dhupar, NVIDIA’s South Asia managing director, said the company will share technical insights and scalable computing resources with Indian startups in the alliance.

“NVIDIA’s support is a pretty significant validation of the ecosystem, and them joining IDTA supports our collective objective that there is an opportunity for India to start seeing incremental growth in this ecosystem,” Viswanathan told TechCrunch.

Unlike NVIDIA, Qualcomm is joining the alliance with an investment focus. The San Diego-based chipmaker made its first investment in India in 2008, with initial bets including Google Maps rival MapmyIndia, which went public in late 2021. Qualcomm and Celesta also backed Indian drone maker IdeaForge, a publicly listed company from 2023.

However, Qualcomm’s participation will extend beyond capital, said Rama Bethmangalkar, India managing director of Qualcomm Ventures. The firm plans to help startups connect with its portfolio companies, partner networks and internal teams at Qualcomm, he told TechCrunch.

“If you’re like-minded and other VCs have allocated certain parts of their resources, dollars, time and network, it’s very important to be part of the group, whether it’s quantum, semiconductor, AI, or emerging technologies, to help each other and then work collaboratively with the government, to align with what the government is thinking about in certain areas,” he said.

He said the success of IDTA remains to be seen. Viswanathan described the alliance as a “loose alliance of the willing”, noting that participating investors continue to pursue their own programs.

“We are collaborating to share knowledge, to share deal flow and all that,” he said when asked about progress since the alliance’s launch in September.

It is also unclear how much capital each participant will contribute.

“We’re collectively estimating what the total commitment is to this ecosystem,” Viswanathan said. “This alliance is not a fund. There are no contractual obligations, no allocations, if you will, 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 deems relevant to that investment.”

India’s deep technology financing Up 78% year over year to $1.6 billion in 2024, according to a report by IT industry body Nasscom and global consulting firm Zineve published in April. While growth is promising, capital raised still lags far behind developed markets, particularly the US

The alliance could help increase that number, but more importantly, it is expected to draw global attention to India’s startup ecosystem — and, in turn, attract more investors and corporate venture funds.

“What we need is role models to begin with,” Bethmangalkar said. “People are going to jump in. Entrepreneurs are going to get capital of confidence… Within ten years, you’re going to start seeing these as companies listed on the main boards of our exchanges—deeply science- and technology-based companies.”