“We have invested in seven companies in India out of 56 investments made across the world. This is the second-highest number of companies in which we have invested after the US. In other countries, we have invested in one company each in Estonia, Italy, Germany, China, and Japan, and in two firms in Singapore. We invest in very early stage and believe in patient capital, holding our investment up to 10 to 12 years. Most of our investment is in seed capital, A to C Series funding,” TDK Ventures President Nicolas Sauvage said during a visit to India.
TDK Ventures is a wholly owned venture-capital fund of TDK Corporation. Through its subsidiary Amperex Technology Ltd (ATL), TDK Corporation controls over 60 per cent of the global market for lithium-ion batteries, which go into smartphones, laptops, and tablets, with marquee clients like Apple Inc. ATL has also set up a manufacturing plant in India to make batteries for iPhones.
Sauvage said that TDK Ventures has three key criteria for investment. “One is financial return — if we invest $1, we expect a return of $20. The second is strategic value that we bring to the portfolio company, and the third is contribution to society and the planet. That is why out of 200 prospective companies, we choose just one.”
He said that the venture-capital company likes to take a 10 to 20 per cent stake, as well as board seats, in the targeted firm. It also prefers to lead fundraise.
TDK Ventures has made some smart investments in India. These include a big bet on electric bike startup Ultraviolette, where it put in $21 million in 2025 and recently co-led a $85 million Series E funding round with Yali Capital. Ultraviolette is now planning to export its bikes globally. It has also invested in Exponent Energy, which is building charging-station infrastructure. This investment was made in 2023 in Exponent Energy’s Series B round. TDK Ventures followed it up by co-leading a ₹200 crore funding in the startup.
The third key investment is in Ethereal Exploration Guild, which is developing the world’s first fully reusable medium lift vehicle to tackle the problem of high costs and long waiting time in orbital launches. Sauvage said that a global race is on in this space, and one of the frontrunners is SpaceX. The venture-capital fund co-led a $20.5 million Series A funding round for the company, alongside Accel, Prosus, and others.
TDK Ventures has also invested in Fasal, an Indian precision agriculture startup, which uses farm-level sensors to capture microclimate and soil data. It co-led a $12 million Series A funding round for the startup in 2023.
— India is TDK Ventures’ second-largest investment destination after the US, with investments in seven companies
— The venture-capital fund invests in early stage of a startup and believes in patient capital, holding investments for 10-12 years
— It looks at a 10-20 per cent stake, as well as board seats, in the target company
— Also, TDK Ventures prefers to co-lead fundraise
 "TDK Ventures, TDK Corporation, deeptech startups, venture capital")