India’s Deeptech Leap: What 2025 Holds For The Ecosystem

India’s deeptech ecosystem has witnessed remarkable progress, driven by strong government policies, increasing investor confidence, and a wave of entrepreneurial talent. It is increasingly being recognized as a global force. With a unique combination of cost-effectiveness, intellectual capital, and market potential, India is well-positioned to attract international investments and partnerships. 

There is a growing appetite of investors to back deeptech startups in their early stages, even while underwriting significant technology risks. This shift indicates a maturing ecosystem that recognizes the long-term potential of deeptech innovations. Early-stage funding in sectors like semiconductors and biotech has grown, empowering startups to scale rapidly and develop indigenous capabilities. As countries seek to diversify their tech supply chains, India’s strategic position and progressive policies make it a preferred destination for deep tech collaboration.

Two startups exemplify the potential of India deeptech:

Agnikul Cosmos launched the world’s first rocket with a single-piece 3D-printed engine from Sriharikota in May 2024. This came on the back of years of R&D and testing, and would not have been possible without the guidance of ISRO and the creation of IN-SPACe, and the strong provided by IIT Madras. It is also reflective of India’s deeptech potential that Srinath Ravichandran, CEO of Agnikul, left his job in the USA to come back to India to build rockets. Agnikul has raised $40 Mn of capital till date.

Mindgrove Technologies, a fabless semiconductor startup, successfully taped out their 28nm chip Secure-IOT chip which will cater to numerous usecases in IoT, automotive, consumer electronics amongst others. These chips are built specifically to cater to the mass-market needs of Indian businesses and customers and will strongly reduce the reliance on imported chips. Mindgrove is leverage the decade-plus research at IIT-M on the RISC-V-based Shakti core and the from the Govt. of India’s Indian Semiconductor Mission (ISM) and the grants coming from the Design Linked Incentive (DLI) scheme of MeiTY.

India’s deeptech journey is fuelled by strong fundamentals: An entrepreneurial culture, abundant talent, and a robust support system. The convergence of favourable policies, increasing global interest, and sustained innovation ensures that India will continue to thrive as a deep tech hub. With a focus on addressing local challenges while catering to global markets, Indian deep tech startups are uniquely poised to create long-lasting impact.

Riding on all this progress made over the past decade, we expect 2025 to see

• A surge in the number of deeptech startups securing Series A funding and beyond, signalling maturity in the ecosystem.
• Greater collaboration between academia, government, and industry to foster innovation.
• Increased participation from generalist funds to support deeptech innovations at the early stage.
• Enhanced focus on commercialization of research, turning lab innovations into products that can be taken to customers.
• more operators from larger Indian companies to come out of their roles and build startups.
• a continuation of a trend with Indians coming back from abroad, leaving behind well-paying jobs to build deeptech in India. 
• an increasing number of Indian professors and academic faculty wanting to translate their research and build startups to commercialize them. 

India’s deeptech ecosystem is poised to not only address domestic challenges but also emerge as a global leader. As we advance, deep tech will play a pivotal role in shaping a more sustainable, innovative, and prosperous future for India and the world.