As India’s deeptech landscape widens, venture capital (VC) firms are roping in specialists with strong academic backgrounds and industry experience to assess startups across artificial intelligence (AI), spacetech, semiconductors, robotics and climate tech sectors.
Funds such as TDK Ventures, Kae Capital and BlueHill VC are appointing experts to their advisory boards from fields such as cell chemistry, robotics, and AI.
“While making deeptech investments, unlike those in ecommerce or fintech companies, funds need to go deeper into the tech to be able to understand the company’s problem statement and global technology trends,” said Ravi Jain, investment director, TDK Ventures, a subsidiary of Japan-based TDK Corporation.
For this, the fund hired Vasan Churchill in 2024 as an investment analyst. He is an IIT Delhi graduate and holds a PhD in mechanical engineering from University of Delaware.
Churchill's academic background and his work experience in 3D printing and robotics is instrumental in analysing investment opportunities across these subjects, Jain explained. In August, TDK Ventures participated in a $21 million funding round of electric motorcycle maker Ultraviolette.
Also Read: Indian deeptech funding to cross $5 billion mark over next 5 years: Report
Deeptech comprises various sub-segments, and finding a specialist for each of them is improbable for the funds. Hence, VCs are expanding their advisory boards instead with industry experts.
Early stage venture fund BlueHill VC, which focuses on deeptech, semiconductors, defence and energy, has added Vinod Dham to their advisory board in March this year.
“Dham’s vast experience in developing semiconductor products, technologies and venture capital, will help us invest better in segments such as semiconductor,” cofounder and general partner Manu Iyer said. Dham is known as the ‘Father of the Pentium Chip’ for leading the development of the Intel Pentium Processor.
While hiring, Iyer said he looks for engineers from IITs and NITs for analyst-level roles. For associate-level jobs, a technical role experience in fields such as aerospace and chemical science is mandatory. BlueHill has backed startups such as space-tech company EtherealX and defence-tech startup Zebu.
“Deeptech is entering an incredibly competitive yet exciting phase, and at the stage where we meet founders, the risks are high, and the signals are often hard to interpret. That’s why expert input is critical,” said Kushal Bhagia, founder and partner at early-stage fund All in Capital.
The fund leans on its network of deeptech founders to evaluate new bets. Gaurav Seth, cofounder of portfolio firm PierSight and Yashas Karanam of Bellatrix Aerospace advise the fund, and their on-ground experience helps the firm assess what it takes to move from research and development to a commercially scalable product.
Satya Chakravarthy, a deeptech entrepreneur and IIT Madras professor, also works with All in Capital for their deeptech investments, Bhagia told ET. “A technology can look groundbreaking on paper, but experts help us evaluate whether it can actually be engineered, manufactured, and scaled in a commercial setting,” he said.
Bengaluru-based early-stage investment fund Kae Capital looks for candidates with at least a master’s degree with work experience. “Our focus is on cybersecurity, energy tech, energy transition, material science, among other themes so we look for candidates who are agile enough to shift through these themes,” said general partner Abhishek Srivastava. He has been investing in the sector since 2016 and joined the firm in August 2024 to drive the tech investments.
TDK Ventures conducts problem-solving tests for their pre-MBA interns to understand how deep they can go to understand the problem at hand.
A recent survey conducted by TDK Ventures and Kae Capital revealed that 53% of the respondents (of the 100 founders) said capital remains difficult to access and 45% said lack of investor understanding is a key reason for the lack of funding in the sector.
ET reported on August 9 about VC funds taking a similar approach to investing in cybersecurity, another technical field which requires knowledge beyond business metrics.
The growing confidence of VCs with a strong backing of experts is driving investments in the sector. Investments in deeptech doubled in the first four months of 2025 to $324 million across 35 deals against $156 million from 21 deals in the same period last year, according to data from Venture Intelligence.
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Funds such as TDK Ventures, Kae Capital and BlueHill VC are appointing experts to their advisory boards from fields such as cell chemistry, robotics, and AI.
“While making deeptech investments, unlike those in ecommerce or fintech companies, funds need to go deeper into the tech to be able to understand the company’s problem statement and global technology trends,” said Ravi Jain, investment director, TDK Ventures, a subsidiary of Japan-based TDK Corporation.
For this, the fund hired Vasan Churchill in 2024 as an investment analyst. He is an IIT Delhi graduate and holds a PhD in mechanical engineering from University of Delaware.
Churchill's academic background and his work experience in 3D printing and robotics is instrumental in analysing investment opportunities across these subjects, Jain explained. In August, TDK Ventures participated in a $21 million funding round of electric motorcycle maker Ultraviolette.
Also Read: Indian deeptech funding to cross $5 billion mark over next 5 years: Report
Deeptech comprises various sub-segments, and finding a specialist for each of them is improbable for the funds. Hence, VCs are expanding their advisory boards instead with industry experts.
Early stage venture fund BlueHill VC, which focuses on deeptech, semiconductors, defence and energy, has added Vinod Dham to their advisory board in March this year.
“Dham’s vast experience in developing semiconductor products, technologies and venture capital, will help us invest better in segments such as semiconductor,” cofounder and general partner Manu Iyer said. Dham is known as the ‘Father of the Pentium Chip’ for leading the development of the Intel Pentium Processor.
While hiring, Iyer said he looks for engineers from IITs and NITs for analyst-level roles. For associate-level jobs, a technical role experience in fields such as aerospace and chemical science is mandatory. BlueHill has backed startups such as space-tech company EtherealX and defence-tech startup Zebu.
“Deeptech is entering an incredibly competitive yet exciting phase, and at the stage where we meet founders, the risks are high, and the signals are often hard to interpret. That’s why expert input is critical,” said Kushal Bhagia, founder and partner at early-stage fund All in Capital.
The fund leans on its network of deeptech founders to evaluate new bets. Gaurav Seth, cofounder of portfolio firm PierSight and Yashas Karanam of Bellatrix Aerospace advise the fund, and their on-ground experience helps the firm assess what it takes to move from research and development to a commercially scalable product.
Satya Chakravarthy, a deeptech entrepreneur and IIT Madras professor, also works with All in Capital for their deeptech investments, Bhagia told ET. “A technology can look groundbreaking on paper, but experts help us evaluate whether it can actually be engineered, manufactured, and scaled in a commercial setting,” he said.
Bengaluru-based early-stage investment fund Kae Capital looks for candidates with at least a master’s degree with work experience. “Our focus is on cybersecurity, energy tech, energy transition, material science, among other themes so we look for candidates who are agile enough to shift through these themes,” said general partner Abhishek Srivastava. He has been investing in the sector since 2016 and joined the firm in August 2024 to drive the tech investments.
TDK Ventures conducts problem-solving tests for their pre-MBA interns to understand how deep they can go to understand the problem at hand.
A recent survey conducted by TDK Ventures and Kae Capital revealed that 53% of the respondents (of the 100 founders) said capital remains difficult to access and 45% said lack of investor understanding is a key reason for the lack of funding in the sector.
ET reported on August 9 about VC funds taking a similar approach to investing in cybersecurity, another technical field which requires knowledge beyond business metrics.
The growing confidence of VCs with a strong backing of experts is driving investments in the sector. Investments in deeptech doubled in the first four months of 2025 to $324 million across 35 deals against $156 million from 21 deals in the same period last year, according to data from Venture Intelligence.
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