IDTA committed $3 billion to deep-tech startups: Chair Arun Kumar

IDTA members have committed $3 billion to deep-tech startups, with $250 million invested so far, as investors seek to strengthen India's deep-tech ecosystem

The India Deep Tech Alliance (IDTA) — a coalition of investors such as 3one4 Capital, Accel, Blume Ventures, Celesta Capital, and Chiratae Ventures — has so far committed $3 billion to and invested ₹2,170 crore in deep-tech startups, said Arun Kumar, chair of the IDTA’s executive committee and also managing partner of Celesta Capital. Speaking with Udisha Srivastav on the sidelines of the Semicon India 2026 event on Friday, Kumar also spoke about how IDTA members are collaborating, the Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Scheme, Celesta Capital's ₹2,000 crore fund, and the Brics Startup Innovation Fund. Edited excerpts:

 

IDTA was announced last year at the Semicon India event. How have things changed over the past one year?

 

Last year, eight funds had come together to make a billion-dollar commitment. Soon after, we added another eight, and then another eight, and now the total commitments have gone up to $3 billion. The good news is that in the last one year, about $250 million (about ₹2,170 crore) has actually been invested by the venture capital (VC) funds who are members of the IDTA. So, that's very good progress for one year. We are now 30 members in total.

 

How are all the members collaborating, especially the VCs?

 

We are working together in multiple ways. A good example would be getting deep-tech founders together as they need to find the right kinds of investors. Everybody is talking about deep-tech, but there aren't enough people who are patient and informed about investing in deep-tech. So, we have various programmes to connect founders with investors. We had a very successful founders forum in Bangalore recently. We also help Indian founders go and talk to investors abroad. For instance, at the end of September, we have a team going to Silicon Valley to meet the investors there.

 

We are also working among ourselves because we can share opportunities and create a community that can work together to deepen the deep-tech ecosystem. Another area is policy where there are a number of policies and regulations that affect entrepreneurs and indirectly affect funds like ours.

 

What’s the progress on the ₹2,000 crore that Celesta Capital planned to raise? Have you applied under the RDI Scheme?

 

Right now, we are on a good path. We have begun investing. The first close was done quite a while ago. Similar to many members of IDTA, we have also applied to be a second-level fund manager under the RDI Scheme. We are waiting for their (government’s) announcement.

 

While the government is funding startups under RDI, there is a requirement that these startups get 50 per cent of funds matched from the private side. Is there any collaboration you have with the government so that the process is smooth and fast?

 

The Technology Development Board (TDB) has made various direct equity investments, and the expectation there is that they will be matched by other investment, VC investment. But there may be many companies that need assistance in getting funds. So, what we are trying to do at IDTA is to expose some of those companies to our members.

 

There was an announcement about the creation of an Indian Semiconductor Academy. Tell us more about it.

 

It’s a very important part, because SEMI (Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International) and IDTA are working together to address this huge gap, which is training. The idea is to build an infrastructure to ramp up training as quickly as possible. So, it is bringing an industry voice and marrying it with academia to build programmes that meet industry needs. The idea is to launch a model that has been successful within the US, the American Semiconductor Academy, and create the India Semiconductor Academy.

 

How is the Brics Startup Innovation Fund going to work?

 

We haven't actually engaged with that. Since it's Brics, it could be many countries. I can say that at Celesta, a lot of our focus is on the synergy between the US and India, and Canada. We're not really looking broader than that right now. But who knows, ten years from now.