India’s Deeptech Startups Raise $11.4 Billion Since 2015, Over 85% in Past Six Years: IVCA

India’s deeptech sector has attracted close to $11.4 billion in private equity and venture capital investment between 2015 and 2026 year-to-date, with more than 85% of the capital raised in the past 6 years, according to the Bharat DeepTech Report 2026 released by the Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association (IVCA).

The sector recorded its strongest funding year in 2025, when deeptech startups raised $2.96 billion across 189 deals. In 2026 year-to-date, companies have raised nearly $1 billion across 103 deals, according to the report.

The increase in capital has come as deeptech moves beyond early-stage proof-of-concept development towards commercial validation, the report said. Deeptech funding has also increased as the sector’s share of India’s overall venture capital and private equity activity rose from 4% in 2016 to 15% in 2025.

AI and generative AI have attracted the largest share of deeptech funding, receiving $2.88 billion across 96 deals. Enterprise deeptech and SaaS attracted $1.57 billion, while electric vehicle and battery technologies were also among the largest funding segments. Semiconductors and Spacetech emerged as the fastest-growing areas, reflecting increasing investor interest in strategic and industrial technologies.

Bengaluru continues to dominate the country’s deeptech investment landscape, accounting for around half of the sector’s deals and funding. The report also identifies Ahmedabad, Kochi and Kolkata as emerging deeptech hubs outside the traditional ecosystem.

Among investors, Blume Ventures was the most active deeptech investor between 2015 and 2026, with 51 deals, followed by Speciale Invest with 50 and Accel India with 48 deals. Deeptech companies also raised $544 million through venture debt across 61 deals during the period.

The report, however, points to a funding gap as companies move beyond the seed stage. Series C and later rounds accounted for only 7% of deeptech transactions but represented 35% of the capital invested, highlighting the concentration of larger cheques at later stages. The report identifies the Series B/C funding gap as one of the key constraints for startups moving towards commercial scale.

Early-stage technology development also remains difficult to finance. Only 15% of the funds surveyed said they back technologies at Technology Readiness Levels 1–3, which cover basic research and proof-of-concept stages. This creates a gap between laboratory-stage innovation and venture-backed commercial development.

Government-backed capital is another area where participation remains limited. According to the report, 40% of surveyed funds had not engaged with any government capital vehicle, despite the availability of programmes including the Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Scheme, SIDBI Startup India Fund of Funds 2.0 and the India Semiconductor Mission.

Deeptech exits also increased in 2025. Startups recorded 18 exits worth $600 million during the year, compared with seven exits worth $152 million in 2024. Secondary transactions accounted for 56% of all exits, while 62% of surveyed funds identified exit visibility as the sector’s biggest challenge. Long gestation periods were another major concern for investors.

The report also notes that deeptech startups typically require longer development cycles, substantial R&D spending, specialised infrastructure and significant capital before reaching commercial scale. These characteristics make access to patient, follow-on capital important as companies move from prototypes to production and market adoption.

IVCA President Rajat Tandon said that taking deeptech startups from laboratories to global scale would require patient capital, stronger research institutions, supportive policy, industry participation and investors willing to support companies over longer development cycles. He also identified the Series B/C funding gap, deeper domestic limited-partner participation and improved exit pathways as priorities for the sector.

The report combines IVCA-Venture Intelligence investment data covering 2015 to 2026 year-to-date with findings from the IVCA DeepTech Fund Survey 2026, which covered 100 funds, including 52 investors surveyed directly and data from 48 additional funds.