Deep Tech

India’s startup boom was fueled by consumer tech. Is deeptech the next frontier?

Nikhil Patwardhan

January 20, 2025 | 14 Min Read

Despite being the world’s third-largest, India’s startup and venture capital ecosystems have a relatively small footprint in the deeptech sector. But can this decade be dominated by deeptech companies?

Key Takeaways

Deeptech startups in India receive only a small share of overall private market funding, even as the country boasts the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem
Industry experts emphasise the need for more funding sources, particularly from large conglomerates, to support innovation and growth in the deeptech sector
India must focus on creating a robust "tech" ecosystem by fostering core technology development within the country
Both founders and investors need to adopt a new mindset that prioritizes long-term innovation and investment in the deeptech space

Kaushik Mudda cuts a frustrated figure. “There are barely any funds in India that haven’t passed on Ethereal in the past,” says Mudda, co-founder, and CEO of Ethereal Machines, speaking candidly about the struggles of fundraising as an Indian deeptech startup.

“We used to write investment theses and give them to investors, only to hear that the material was great but they wanted further information to be given from third party market studies/surveys/reports. These reports are usually expensive and not something startups can afford to buy,” Mudda recounts.

Founded over a decade ago by engineering graduates Mudda and Navin Jain, Ethereal Machines claims to be an innovator in 5-Axis CNC machining technology in India. CNC, or Computer Numerical Control, machines are widely used across industries to manufacture precise parts and components, with 5-Axis CNC machines able to do so with maximum precision and minimal manual intervention.

This is a premium article and available only to subscribers.

Already a subscriber? Sign In

What's your right fit?

Be the smartest person in the room. Choose the plan that works for you and join our exclusive subscriber community.

Premium Articles

4 articles every week

Trusted by the best

Karthik Reddy

Blume Ventures

The CapTable brings a refreshing set of insights for us at the Blume team, highlighting stories that bring together the underlying business and founders with that of investors' journeys with these startups. It's an important perspective that very few bring to startup ecosystem enthusiasts.

Latest Articles

Not slowdowns or markdowns, but an exam has India’s VCs sweating

India's VC industry is in flux as a new Sebi-mandated certification exam has forced fund managers back to the books. With theory-heavy content and looming deadlines, firms face compliance hurdles, shifting team dynamics, and mounting pressure to pass—or risk being sidelined.

Team Captable

Pocket FM’s AI disruption from audio to comics, through the CEO’s eyes

In the latest edition of CapTable Conversations, we catch up with Pocket FM’s Rohan Nayak, whose audio app boasts a library of 40,000 AI-generated shows. In-house breakthroughs in AI and rapid content expansion took Pocket FM past the Rs 1,000-crore revenue mark in 2024. Its next big bet? AI comics.

Sohini Mitter

Rapido’s recipe to disrupt the Zomato-Swiggy food delivery duopoly

Fresh off dethroning the ride-hailing duopoly of Ola and Uber, Rapido is betting that it can use the lessons it learned from ride-hailing to crack India’s food delivery market. But dethroning Zomato and Swiggy will take more than cheap prices and ride-hailing muscle.

Pranav Balakrishnan

WayCool Foods faces NCLT heat amidst mounting debt and auditor resignation

WayCool director Vinod Dasari and Kushal Finnovation are among the petitioners dragging the once-promising agritech firm in front of the NCLT over loan repayments. MCA filings show WayCool has over Rs 450 crore in outstanding loans, and its last auditor resigned over unpaid dues and cost overruns.

Parvathi Benu

India’s legal Davids taking on trillion-dollar tech firms

A few independent lawyers are showing that limited resources aren’t a barrier to challenging deep-pocketed global technology companies in court. In doing so, they are helping shape the legal contours of India’s digital economy.

Pratap Vikram Singh

Convinced that The Captable stories and insights
will give you the edge?

Convinced that The Captable stories
and insights will give you the edge?

Subscribe Now