The India Deep Tech Alliance (IDTA) has secured fresh commitments of over Rs 7,500 crore ($850 million) and expanded its membership with the entry of Nvidia and Qualcomm Ventures, the coalition said on Wednesday. Industry sources said Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Lam Research are also likely to join the alliance in the coming weeks, signalling rising participation from global and domestic technology firms in the country’s deep-tech ecosystem.
Launched in September at Semicon India with initial commitments of $1 billion, IDTA aims to mobilise private capital and technical expertise for early-stage startups across sectors such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, space, robotics, biotech, energy and advanced manufacturing. The alliance is designed as a voluntary platform where members invest over a five-to-ten-year horizon and collaborate on mentorship, co-investment and research partnerships.
New entrants include Activate AI, Chiratae Ventures, InfoEdge Ventures, Kalaari Capital, Singularity Holdings VC and YourNest Venture Capital. They join existing members such as Accel, Blume Ventures, Celesta Capital, Gaja Capital, Ideaspring Capital, Premji Invest, Tenacity Ventures and Venture Catalysts.
Nvidia has joined as a founding member and strategic advisor and will offer technical support, training and policy inputs to help startups build on its AI and computing platforms. Qualcomm Ventures said India’s expanding deep-tech talent base is well-positioned to contribute to the global AI innovation cycle. “We see AI-led intelligent computing as the foundation for the next wave of innovation. India’s deep tech community plays a critical role in realising the global AI opportunity, and we are excited to join the IDTA to support the ecosystem,” Quinn Li, senior vice president, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc, said.
Speaking to FE, Sriram Viswanathan, founding managing partner at Celesta Capital, said the rising participation of both domestic and international investors reflects increasing confidence in India’s role in deep-tech value creation. He noted that the alliance’s structure does not require pooled capital and that the number of contributors is expected to expand further as the ecosystem matures.
Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Founder, InfoEdge said: “Now is India’s AI and deep tech moment – talent, demand, and policy are getting aligned and we hope several science and engineering breakthroughs will go on to become profitable businesses”.
Sudhir Sethi, founder and chairman of Chiratae Ventures, echoed that deeptech will drive India’s next era of value creation in areas like semiconductors, AI, robotics, space, and advanced manufacturing. “Through IDTA, we hope to collaborate across the ecosystem to help ensure the government’s RDI vision translates into globally competitive companies,” he said.
Vani Kola, managing director, Kalaari Capital, said deeptech represents India’s transition from scaling global products to building foundational technologies. Adding to that, Aakrit Vaish, co-founder of Activate AI, said the alliance’s focus on AI and core technology research is timely.
The alliance’s efforts are aligned with the government’s Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Scheme, under which Rs 1 lakh crore has been earmarked to boost strategic tech research, along with Rs 10,000 crore allocated for the national AI mission. Industry leaders said the country is moving from scaling global software products to developing foundational technologies, and sustained capital, policy support and cross-industry collaboration will be key to translating lab breakthroughs into globally competitive companies.
