DeepTech Surges in India’s Startup Investments

June 20, 2026

India’s startup ecosystem is undergoing a fundamental transformation, with deep-tech investments surging as investors increasingly back frontier technologies like AI, semiconductors, robotics, and space-tech. This shift signals India’s transition from a consumer-tech heavy landscape to one where IP-led innovation is central to global competitiveness.

📊 The Numbers Behind the Deep-Tech Surge

Deep-tech funding in India has reached $1.1 billion as of June 2026, with AI continuing to dominate—accounting for 91% of all deep-tech investments. India is now home to more than 4,200 deep-tech startups, including over 550 founded in 2025 alone, with patent filings rising roughly 68% since 2020-21.

Semiconductor startups raised **$92 million** in the first five months of 2026 across 12 deals—nearly **four times** the funds raised in all of 2025. Of this, $34 million came from seed rounds across eight deals, with the remainder being Series A funding. Companies that raised funds in 2026 include Constelli, C2i Semiconductors, HrdWyr, and VerveSemi, each securing upwards of $10 million.

The robotics sector is also gaining significant traction. Reliance-backed Addverb Technologies is seeking to raise more than $100 million to develop humanoid robots and cement its role as India’s top robotics maker . The company, which already generates half its revenue from overseas markets, aims to rank among the top 10 robotics companies globally within five years.

🚀 AI Leads the Deep-Tech Charge

The most visible symbol of India’s deep-tech momentum is Sarvam AI, which raised $234 million** in the first close of its Series B round, becoming a unicorn with a **$1.5 billion valuation. HCLTech emerged as the lead strategic investor, acquiring a 10.46% stake for $150 million.

Sarvam positioned the round as a bet on research-led innovation for India’s scale. “We are clear that research-led innovation to create AI that works at India’s scale is a very large opportunity,” said Pratyush Kumar, Co-founder of Sarvam. “That means models that understand our voices, read our documents, and serve intelligence at a cost every enterprise and government can afford”.

Sarvam’s models are already shipping at significant scale:

10 million daily API calls, tripling in three months
2 million daily interactions on its conversational platform, doubling in two months
35 million+ pages digitised through Sarvam Vision
Voice agents reached 17 million farmers for the Ministry of Agriculture and 45 million policyholders for a leading insurer

🏛️ Policy Support: The Enabling Framework

The government has created a supportive environment for deep-tech innovation. A key development was when DPIIT extended startup recognition for deep-tech companies to 20 years and raised the turnover threshold to ₹300 crore. This recognises the long gestation periods typical of deep-tech ventures.

The Design-Linked Incentive (DLI) scheme has been instrumental in de-risking early-stage investments by absorbing initial risks, helping crowd in private and venture capital funds. “There is growing interest from Indian investors to back startups,” said Ram Anant, co-founder and CEO of C2i Semiconductors. “There is also a big push from the government through DLI scheme, which helps crowd in private and VC funds by absorbing early-stage risks”.

💰 New Deep-Tech Funds Enter the Market

A new wave of domestic VCs is entering the deep-tech space, signalling sustained investor confidence:

Aum Ventures launched its India Innovation Fund II with an $80 million (₹750 crore) corpus aimed at backing early-stage deep-tech and IP-led startups across AI, space-tech, semiconductors, and defence. The fund will write cheques of $750,000 to $2 million and provide follow-on capital up to Series A/B stages, supporting approximately 25-30 portfolio companies.

IIT Kanpur received SEBI registration for its venture capital fund, Dhanavritti Ventures, a Category I Alternative Investment Fund focused on deep-tech sectors including AI, advanced materials, defence technology, climate technology, and life sciences. This fund aims to bridge the gap between academic research and commercialisation.

🔬 Semiconductor Startups Cross from Prototype to Production

Indian semiconductor startups like Netrasemi, Mindgrove Technologies, and Agnit Semiconductors are nearing commercial production, with some already running customer pilots. Mindgrove is eyeing commercial rollout by the end of 2026, while Agnit has three pilots already running with defence sector customers, expecting volumes to reach 5,000-10,000 chips in the next six to nine months.

At least half a dozen semiconductor companies have taped out and sent chips to foundries for manufacturing. C2i Semiconductors, Mindgrove, Vervesemi, and Calligo Technologies have tapped into global foundries in Taiwan and South Korea for tape-outs.

🔮 What This Means for India’s Innovation Economy

The deep-tech surge reflects a broader structural shift. As Chetan Mehta, Founding Partner of Aum Ventures, noted: “India is at a unique inflection point where policy support, talent, and capital availability are converging to create unprecedented opportunities for DeepTech and innovation”.

Investors are increasingly moving beyond traditional software bets to sectors where defensibility and intellectual property are harder to replicate. “IP/tech businesses need to be evaluated on their ability to compete globally from the very beginning and have to be nurtured accordingly,” Mehta added.

With policy support, strong engineering talent, and growing investor appetite, India is positioning itself as a net exporter of DeepTech innovation, with globally significant companies emerging from sectors including AI infrastructure, space-tech, defence, semiconductors, and robotics.