NVIDIA and Qualcomm join US and Indian venture capital firms to help build India’s next deep tech startups

NVIDIA and Qualcomm Ventures have joined a growing coalition of US and Indian investors backing deep tech startups in India. The group launched in September with more than $1 billion in liabilitiestiming that aligns with India’s new R&D initiative worth 1 trillion rupees (about $12 billion).

NVIDIA has joined the alliance as a strategic technical advisor, with no financial commitments, while Qualcomm Ventures has joined alongside six Indian venture firms, bringing additional capital commitments totaling more than $850 million.

India is home to over 180,000 startups and over 120 unicorns. In its early years, much of the ecosystem closely mirrored Western business models before evolving into SaaS companies serving global customers, especially those in the United States. But in recent years, India’s focus has shifted to building projects that address tougher infrastructure problems — from satellite launches and transportation electrification to semiconductor design. The Indian government has sought to accelerate this transformation as major economies race to secure technological sovereignty. However, capital for such projects remains scarce, as they require a longer maturity period than traditional sectors, and most venture capital firms prefer 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 this gap, bringing together seven major investors from the US and India – Accel, Bloom Ventures, Premji Invest, Gaja Capital, Ideaspring Capital, Tenacity Ventures, and Venture Catalyst. The latest addition to Indian venture firms includes Activate AI, Chiratae Ventures, InfoEdge Ventures, Kalaari Capital, Singularity Holdings, and YourNest 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 also plans to collaborate with the Indian government on its policy initiatives, including the recently introduced Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) scheme.

“It is an alliance of the willing, who want to support the development of the Indian deep tech ecosystem,” Sriram Viswanathan, founding managing partner of Celesta Capital and founding executive board member of IDTA, said in an interview.

consent By the Indian Cabinet earlier this year and Rolled By Prime Minister Narendra Modi this week, the trillion-rupee RDI scheme will fund projects in areas such as energy security and transition, quantum computing, robotics, space technology, biotechnology, and artificial intelligence through long-term loans, equity infusion, and allocation of deep technology funds. The venture companies participating in the alliance plan to leverage the initiative to support deep technology startups based in India.

“This is, in a way, the most important moment where the action of the Indian government will lead to the creation and formation of many of these deep tech companies and will be backed by a number of venture capital firms in India that are really looking to develop this ecosystem,” Viswanathan told TechCrunch. “There is a tipping point in the Indian entrepreneurship ecosystem in favor of deep tech, and that is what we are all excited about.”

The alliance has enlisted the help of NVIDIA to provide strategic and technical guidance to its members and emerging startups. The US chipmaker – whose market value has soared amid the global AI boom – will advise on best practices for integrating NVIDIA’s AI and accelerated computing platforms, offer technical talks and training through the NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute, and contribute to industry-government policy dialogues to strengthen India’s deep technology capabilities, the alliance said in a statement.

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

“NVIDIA’s support is a huge validation of the ecosystem, and their joining IDTA is an endorsement of our collective goal that there is an opportunity for India to start seeing thriving growth of 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 early bets including Google Maps rival MapmyIndia, which went public in late 2021. Qualcomm and Celesta have also backed Indian drone maker IdeaForge, which has been a publicly traded company since 2023.

However, Rama Pethmangalkar, managing director of Qualcomm Ventures in India, said Qualcomm’s involvement will extend beyond capital. The company plans to help startups connect with its portfolio companies, partner networks and internal teams within Qualcomm, he told TechCrunch.

“If you’re like-minded and other VCs are dedicating a certain portion of their resources and money and time and networks, helping each other and then working collectively with the government, to align with what the government is thinking about in certain areas, whether that’s quantum, semiconductors, AI, or emerging technologies, it’s very important to be part of that group,” he said.

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

“We are collaborating to share knowledge, share deal flow, all of that,” he said when asked about progress since the alliance was launched in September.

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

“We’re just making a collective estimate of the overall commitment to this ecosystem,” Viswanathan said. “This alliance is not a fund. There is no commitment, no allocation, if you will, to any deal. If Rama finds a deal, he will do so. If Rama finds it appropriate to bring in other investors, he will share the deal with other investors that he believes are suitable for that investment.”

India deep tech finance It rose 78% year over year to $1.6 billion In 2024, according to a report by IT industry body Nasscom and global consulting firm Zinnov released in April. Although growth is promising, the capital raised still lags far behind that of developed markets, especially the United States.

The alliance may help increase this number, but more importantly, it is expected to attract global attention – and thus more investors and corporate venture funds – to India’s startup ecosystem.

“What we need are role models first,” Pethmangalkar said. “People will jump in. Entrepreneurs will get trust capital…and within ten years, you will start to see these companies listed on the main boards of our stock exchanges – companies with deep scientific and technological orientations.”