Venture capital, private equity firms form India Deep Tech Investment Alliance

A coalition of US and India-based venture capital firms and private equity firms on Wednesday formed the India Deep Tech Investment Alliance to mobilise capital and expertise for deep tech startups in India.

Founding members of IDTA include Celesta Capital, Accel, Blume Ventures, Gaja Capital, Ideaspring Capital, Premji Invest, Tenacity Ventures, and Venture Catalysts.

The industry body aims to accelerate entrepreneurship and ecosystem development within key technology sectors throughout the India-US corridor. This aligns with the TRUST (Transforming the Relationship Utilising Strategic Technology) initiative announced by US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February this year.

IDTA’s launch is also expected to build on the momentum of the recent approval by the Union Cabinet of the Research, Development, and Innovation (RDI) Scheme, which will direct a corpus of Rs 1 lakh crore to scale R&D and innovation in strategic sectors within India.

The members have committed to providing mentorship channels to deeptech startups, along with network access, collaboration, and engagement channels with relevant government entities. Moreover, each IDTA member will commit private capital over 5-10 years to India-domiciled deeptech enterprises.

“We’re structurally bullish on India’s deep-tech founders. Over the next decade, startups will build in India and export breakthrough solutions to the world. The tailwinds are in place: ambition, talent, policy intent, and patient capital. At Accel, we’re excited and humbled to partner with exceptional teams and support the long arcs of R&D needed to build world-class companies,” said Anand Daniel, Partner at Accel.

The body will be governed by an advisory committee. Celesta Capital’s Managing Partner and former CEO of KPMG India, Arun Kumar, will serve as the inaugural IDTA chair. Other members of the advisory committee will include representatives from Accel, Premji Invest, and Venture Catalysts.

The announcement comes at a time when India is seeing rising traction and investments into early-stage deeptech startups on the back of regulatory support and rising developments in artificial intelligence, robotics, and more.

Venture capital firms have shifted their strategy while approaching deeptech firms, often gaining access to longer windows to support follow-on rounds, while others have tailored their approach, focusing on sub-segments within deeptech.