RDI fund's first cohort of startups aims to plug country's deep-tech gaps

The first five startups backed under the government's RDI fund will develop indigenous technologies in space, defence, healthcare, batteries and biotechnology through milestone-based financing

The first batch of five startups selected as part of the government's Rs 1 trillion Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) fund is likely to emerge as an anchor portfolio under which these deep-tech companies are developing indigenous technologies in strategic sectors.

 

The maiden cohort selected by the Technology Development Board (TDB) includes e-TRNL Energy, Dhruva Space, Eyestem Research, Noccarc Robotics, and Endure Air Systems. TDB has been allocated Rs 2,000 crore to invest in deep-tech companies.

 

Unlike conventional grants, the five projects are subject to milestone-based monitoring and will receive funds after reaching agreed-upon technical and financial milestones. In addition, they are also required to raise half of their funding requirement from the private sector. Executives from the selected firms said the financing model is particularly suited to deep-tech sectors, where products often require years of engineering, testing and certification before generating revenue.

 

Space-tech firm Dhruva Space has received Rs 105 crore to build Project Garud, the country’s first indigenous 500 kg-class communication satellite platform. The project aims to create a modular satellite bus - a plug-and-play framework to keep systems running in orbit - that can be manufactured at scale for communication constellations.

 

Sanjay Nekkanti, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Dhruva Space, said the project will allow the company to build advanced communication satellite constellations, and eventually become a global destination for designing, manufacturing, qualifying, and launching them. Such an indigenous platform would reduce reliance on foreign technologies and support sovereign communication infrastructure.

 

The company is also planning a 280,000-square foot spacecraft manufacturing facility in Shamshabad (Hyderabad) to support industrial-scale production of satellite platforms and subsystems.

 

Another major recipient is EndureAir Systems, which has received Rs 30 crore to build SABAL-200, an indigenous heavy-lift unmanned aerial system capable of transporting payloads of up to 200 kg.

 

The project is divided into five technical milestones. It begins with manufacturing setup and baseline design, followed by detailed engineering and validation, development of the first flying prototype, advanced environmental and stress testing, and finally production-ready systems with sustained field validation and certification.

 

According to founder and CEO Rama Krishna Mendu, the unmanned aerial system is being designed for dual-use applications, such as transporting supplies to troops in high-altitude border regions as well as carrying heavy equipment for power transmission and infrastructure projects in remote areas. Currently, such operations typically rely on helicopters, porters or pack animals, making logistics expensive and weather dependent.

 

In healthcare, Noccarc has been selected to develop an intelligent mobile life support system, a portable critical-care platform for ambulances and resource-constrained hospitals. The startup had proposed a Rs 23 crore project, of which half the funding will come from the TDB-RDI fund, with the rest to be mobilised through internal accruals and private investors.

 

Harshit Rathore, co-founder of Noccarc, said that the project integrates an ICU-grade ventilator, multi-parameter patient monitoring system and a software platform that transmits patient data in real time to tertiary hospitals. At a later stage, the company plans to add AI-powered clinical guidance to assist paramedics and healthcare workers in community health centres, primary health centres and ambulances, where specialist doctors are typically unavailable.

 

The project has a three-year execution timeline, with the ventilator and monitoring platform expected to be commercialised first, followed by AI-assisted clinical decision support as the software platform evolves.

 

Of the other two startups, Eyestem Research and e-TRNL Energy, the former will develop first-in-class cell therapies for two globally incurable diseases, dry age-related macular degeneration (geographic atrophy) and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. e-TRNL aims to develop and manufacture next-generation lithium-ion batteries to strengthen India's energy storage ecosystem.

 

For Eyestem Research, Rs 125 crore has been sanctioned, while e-TRNL Energy will receive Rs 94 crore in funding.

 

These projects, collectively, are expected to strengthen the country's capabilities in space infrastructure, defence logistics, critical healthcare, advanced manufacturing, and indigenous intellectual property. Going further, they will also serve as proof points for the government's broader idea of catalysing private investment into frontier technologies through blended public funding.