BENGALURU: India’s venture capital industry body has teamed up with a nationwide startup network to tap into DeepTech founders beyond the country’s major metro hubs. The Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association (IVCA) announced Thursday it will co-host Bharat Pitchathon 2026 alongside Headstart Network Foundation.
The partnership launches a new initiative called IVCA Bharat DeepTech Startups: National Pulse. This founder-driven intelligence project aims to document the experiences, obstacles, and priorities shaping DeepTech entrepreneurship across India.
The move comes as India’s DeepTech sector accelerates across semiconductors, artificial intelligence, space, defence, biotechnology, quantum computing, and clean energy. Global capability centres, domestic technology firms, and science-led startups continue to expand, reinforcing India’s position as a hub for research, development, and innovation. Policy frameworks are also adapting to accommodate the longer gestation periods these ventures require.
According to IVCA’s Bharat DeepTech Report 2026, the sector pulled in $11.4 billion across 957 venture capital deals between 2015 and 2026 year-to-date. The year 2025 alone saw $2.96 billion in funding, the highest annual figure recorded. The National Pulse builds on this investment data by adding founder perspectives from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, regions often missing from ecosystem datasets and discussions.
Headstart’s grassroots network spans more than 30 cities. Combined with IVCA’s reach across private capital, industry, and government, the collaboration will gather credible data, founder sentiment, and regional insights. The goal: map who is building DeepTech, where innovation is surfacing, and what founders need to scale.
Rajat Tandon, President of IVCA, emphasized that India’s DeepTech opportunity extends well beyond established startup hubs. He noted the partnership would connect investors with founders nationwide while systematically listening to challenges around capital, infrastructure, commercialisation, talent, and policy.
Gautham Sivaramakrishnan, Director of Headstart Network Foundation, pointed to startups like Sunfox in Dehradun and BonV in Bhubaneswar as evidence that world-class DeepTech talent exists far from metro centres. Many such founders initially struggled to access venture capital but later raised hundreds of crores.
Findings will feed into the first National Pulse Report, slated for launch at the Bharat DeepTech Summit 2027.
