Inside Rukam Capital’s 2026 Roadmap: Balancing Deeptech Patience And Consumer Speed

The $4.19 Tn Indian economy is expanding steadily at 6.8% to be the world’s third-largest with a projected GDP of $7.3 Tn by 2030. A shift in consumer behaviour and robust policy support from the government has transformed digital commerce as an emerging growth engine for the country, aiming to surpass the $400 Bn mark by the same year. 

No wonder, investors are backing this growth by investing in early-stage consumer brands that are reshaping how the quintessential Indian consumer shops online.

While consumer startups continue to attract capital, deeptech ventures are often left in the lurch. But why? Building novel technologies requires long-term, patient capital from investors willing to support research-driven innovation.

Sustaining India’s growth story will require striking a balance between both ends of the spectrum. “Deeptech and consumer startups operate at very different rhythms, which is why we’ve maintained two distinct investment vehicles for each since the start,” said Archana Jahagirdar, founder and managing partner of Rukam Capital. 

The venture capital firm has clearly differentiated its consumer investments from its long-term deeptech bets, recognising that the two demand entirely different timelines, strategies, and expectations.

Globally, GenAI funding has surged ahead of consumption-led investments. Capital inflows into AI ventures rose to $49.2 Bn in H1 2025, up from $44.2 Bn last year, with large language models (LLMs) and AI infrastructure startups capturing the lion’s share. In India, the AI market is projected to expand tenfold to $17 Bn by 2030, positioning it as a key frontier for innovation.

In this context, Jahagirdar spoke to Inc42 about Rukam Capital’s investment philosophy for 2026, the growing influence of AI, and why India needs to cultivate stronger domestic risk capital to sustain its growth story.

She also shared Rukam Capital’s long-term investment vision and how it balances consumer-focused ventures and technology-led bets.

Having backed mass market brands like Sleepy Owl, Upliance.ai, Burger Singh, Yoho, and Go Desi, Rukam Capital is now doubling down on its effort to balance the portfolio with long-term tech innovation. 

Here are the edited excerpts from the interaction with the Rukam Capital chief: 

Inc42: How is Rukam Capital’s investment philosophy evolving for 2026?

Archana Jahagirdar: As we move into 2026, we’re looking to take bigger and bolder bets. My conviction is growing stronger each year that today’s founders have a much clearer understanding of what it takes to build large, scalable companies in a relatively short span of time and that makes investing an even more exciting proposition.

As founders become more aware of the realities and responsibilities that come with raising risk capital, investors and entrepreneurs get more aligned. This is ultimately a net positive for the entire ecosystem.

Inc42: How do you see the broader macro environment shaping capital flows into Indian startups next year?

Archana Jahagirdar: Capital flows into Indian startups in 2026 will largely hinge on how optimistic global investors remain about GenAI, especially in the US. Major investors like SoftBank and Tiger Global tend to redirect their strategies towards where the next big opportunity lies and, right now, they see GenAI as the new goldmine. Most of their dry powder is likely to be deployed there.

India must focus on unlocking more domestic capital and building critical infrastructure. The prime minister’s push for homegrown brands and capabilities is a strong step, but we also need to include domestic risk capital in that mission.

In the past few years, we have seen that the age of globalisation is on the wane, and nations are prioritising themselves. With mounting geopolitical tensions, rapid tech shifts, and new forms of wealth creation, countries are consolidating their resources, including capital, within their borders.

If India has to win, whether in wealth creation or technology, we’ll need to play by those same rules.

Inc42: How do you balance short-term opportunities in fast-moving categories like D2C with long-term bets in emerging technologies?

Archana Jahagirdar: We recognise that deeptech and consumer startups operate at very different rhythms, which is why we’ve maintained two distinct investment vehicles for each since the start.

In early-stage deeptech, where much of India’s innovation resides, the priority after the first round should be refining the technology and product, rather than rushing into commercialisation.

Consumer businesses, on the other hand, must build their early product-market fit to become viable investments. 

These two categories require different approaches, timelines, and expectations. Structuring them separately also helps our LPs better align with the distinct risk-reward profiles for each.

Inc42: With India’s consumption expected to grow nearly 46% by 2030, what consumer trends are you most keen on backing in 2026? 

Archana Jahagirdar: We believe the biggest opportunity, not just in 2026 but over the next decade, lies in longevity. It’s a broad space that spans original research on extended lifespan, and rethinking how we approach livelihood, lifestyle, and companionship.

It’s essentially about redefining how we live in the later decades of life, whether that future unfolds in large cities or through new models of co-living. The space is complex, deeply human, and impossible to overlook.

Inc42: The recent Rukam consumer report highlights health and wellness, pet care, kitchen appliances, food and beverages, and fashion accessories as high-interest categories. How does this align with your 2026 blueprint?

Archana Jahagirdar: While we have invested in some of these categories with great outcomes, there is still a lot of headroom there. We’re expecting to double down on these categories because, as founders find newer ways to address consumer needs, we intend to be there to support them as their first institutional partner.

Inc42: The report also notes that around 58% consumers are willing to pay a 20–30% premium for Indian startups. How can founders tap into this sentiment?

Archana Jahagirdar: The political leadership has done a remarkable job of instilling pride in our Indian identity, and that sentiment is now translating into a strong support for homegrown brands. Our respondents repeatedly spoke about choosing ‘Made in India’, which shows how deeply that pride runs.

It’s now up to the founders to ensure that the Made-in-India label stands for trust and world-class quality. When you can harness a nation’s pride, it gives you the momentum that hardly anything else can give.

No matter whether a company is led by products or services, it must always represent excellence because consumer trust is one thing that can never be compromised.

Inc42: Indian mid-market consumers, beyond Tier I cities, are driving the next wave of growth. How is Rukam looking to tap into India II and India III?

Archana Jahagirdar: As a team, we make it a point to travel extensively through the length and breadth of the country to be able to understand from a qualitative perspective as to how consumers are thinking. 

Our attempt then is to put data into our qualitative findings, and that is the work that we did through our report.

The third point is, of course, talking to founders to understand what it is that they are seeing about consumers that others are not seeing yet.

Inc42: How do you evaluate AI startups differently from consumer-first brands, given that product-market fit in AI looks very different from D2C?

Archana Jahagirdar: The reason for having two separate vehicles is exactly this. In the early stages of an AI or deeptech startup, the journey is much more about the technology than the consumer, and because of this, the outcomes in technology are much more binary.

There has to be patience and a reasonable understanding of when a founder needs to double down on working on tech versus working on sales mode. If, as an investor, you’re uncomfortable working on this, it’s best not to work on tech startups, especially in deeptech. 

Consumer startups, on the other hand, have definite sales targets, and their outcomes from an investor standpoint aren’t quite as binary.

Inc42: Where do you see the most practical and scalable use cases for Indian AI startups in 2026?

Archana Jahagirdar: If I could truly answer that, I’d probably be richer than Elon Musk. 

The outlook is still uncertain, but the general view seems to be that the next wave will centre around wrappers and applications built on LLMs.

That said, I’m cautious about joining the chorus claiming that AI will upend everything. Technology adoption, no matter how transformative, rarely unfolds as predicted. Each major shift, from electricity to personal devices, came with its share of hype. Many bold predictions never materialised, though the technologies themselves changed life profoundly.

No one could have foreseen the scale of GenAI or the internet, yet both owe electricity their existence. Humans try to predict the future because it offers a sense of control, but the future, as always, will find its own way to surprise us.

Inc42: Consumer trust, authenticity, and sustainability are highlighted in your report as non-negotiable values. How do you guide your founders to embed these principles into their businesses from day one?

Archana Jahagirdar: The first step in getting an investment from Rukam is being true to these attributes. 

What you say about your product has to match with the product itself at all times, and in all markets. Sometimes, companies lose their way in pursuit of profit numbers that the customers won’t notice. 

Our job as investors and friends of our portfolio founders is to remind them at all times that getting a better gross margin is possible also without compromising on the quality of the product. 

We believe that increasing gross margin should be a function of how you run the business, rather than short-changing the consumer.

Inc42: If you had to sum up Rukam Capital’s 2026 investment vision for founders, what would it be?

Archana Jahagirdar: To earn the title of a startup, a company has to grow fast. If it doesn’t, markets can shift, customer preferences can change, and larger or better-funded competitors can quickly move in – all these make growth far more expensive.

That said, growth must always be balanced with solid business fundamentals and genuine consumer needs. Being a startup founder isn’t for the faint-hearted – it demands complete commitment and unwavering focus.