India’s deeptech startup ecosystem is accelerating, yet stands at an inflection point. Since 2016, more than $28 billion has flowed into the sector, a fourfold increase over the past decade. For years, venture capital in India has been built around speed, scale, and quick exits, a model that thrived in the consumer-tech and SaaS boom, but is now being tested by the demands of long-cycle innovation.

But as India doubles down on artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductors, advanced manufacturing, defence, space, and biotech, investors are waking up to a new rhythm of innovation, one measured not in months or user growth charts, but in prototypes, patents, and patience. This acceleration underscores the need for stronger linkages between cutting-edge research, a growing entrepreneurial base, and timely, well-structured capital. As India’s deeptech ecosystem matures, the scale and structure of capital will play an increasingly decisive role. Deeptech ventures require larger, long-horizon capital pools to fund scale-up, manufacturing readiness, regulatory navigation, and global market entry. Building such vehicles is not merely a financial necessity; it is a strategic imperative for sustaining innovation and competitiveness. 

A new innovation clock speed

Deeptech founders don’t live on a five-year clock. Trying to fit their unpredictable journey into a rigid fund cycle is like strapping a Formula 1 engine to a bicycle and hoping for the best; the machinery simply isn’t built for that kind of speed.

These are companies building deep, defensible technologies, the kind that can reshape markets or create entirely new ones. Furthermore, their timelines are often influenced by factors well beyond their control: regulatory bottlenecks, supply-chain dependencies, and capital access. For instance, until recently, India’s regulatory and industrial frameworks struggled to keep pace with the country’s innovation potential, slowing the growth of market-changing technologies. Innovation often outpaces regulation, and in deeptech, that gap can stretch for years, elongating timelines further. Deeptech startups typically begin with little more than a bold scientific vision. Their paths are rarely linear; they demand constant recalibration between lab breakthroughs and market realities.

The game has evidently changed, and so has the timer. GPs, who once chased speed, are realising that in deeptech, the slow burn often delivers the brightest flame. Patience isn’t just a virtue anymore; it’s the new alpha.

Forcing deeptech ventures into conventional venture cycles often destroys more value than it creates. These companies go through long phases of scientific validation, prototyping, and pilot deployments before reaching commercial inflection. When investors demand early revenues or quick exits, founders are pushed to work towards short-term optics over long-term defensibility. The result? Premature scaling, diluted innovation, and lost potential.

The shift towards more adaptive capital

Across India, forward-looking investors are redesigning their portfolio architecture to match deeptech realities. Parallelly, VC funds are becoming more selective about their LP (limited partner) base, ensuring they onboard investors who understand time horizons and risk profiles the space demands.

University endowments, sovereign wealth funds, and family offices with longer investment horizons are showing greater comfort with funds that prioritise technical compounding over rapid mark-ups. LPs are no longer asking, “How fast can it scale?” but rather, “What’s the strength of its IP?”

The rise of evergreen funds, continuation vehicles, and blended pools of capital isn’t innovation; it’s survival. These structures allow funds to stay invested longer, free from the ticking clock of forced exits. Meanwhile, corporate venture arms and strategic investors are stepping up, bringing sector expertise, demand pipelines, and technical validation. In deeptech, these partnerships often matter more than valuation.

Government initiatives such as RDI Fund, IN-SPACe and iDEX, along with programmes like Make in India and defence modernisation, are actively crowding in private capital. Together, these initiatives are strengthening the backbone of India’s deeptech ecosystem and signalling that private capital now has firm public support, setting a strong foundation for long-term growth and investor conviction.  Some venture funds are now splitting portfolios into dual tracks, one dedicated to long-horizon, R&D, heavy deeptech, and another focused on adjacent ventures with nearer-term commercial traction.

This internal balance allows funds to maintain liquidity discipline while still giving science-led companies the runway they need. It’s a pragmatic evolution, an architecture that acknowledges what most GPs now recognise: deep-tech value creation is inherently non-linear.

Why the old VC playbook will not work

The traditional VC playbook —blitz scaling, hypergrowth, rapid iteration — are structurally misaligned with how deeptech companies grow.

These ventures need time to build fabrication capacity, secure regulatory approvals, and navigate hardware-software co-design challenges. Pushing them to scale too early doesn’t accelerate growth; it amplifies burn, increases technical debt, and weakens defensibility.

The new generation of founders in robotics, energy storage, and quantum technologies isn’t looking for fast capital. They’re looking for informed, patient, hands-on investors who can support them through long validation cycles.

Deeptech is holding up a mirror to venture capital and asking a hard question: can VCs keep up when the game slows down?

It’s forcing the industry to evolve, from efficiency-driven investing to conviction-driven patience. India stands at the cusp of a generational innovation shift. The funds that adapt will not only deliver stronger long-term returns, but also help define the country’s next era of industrial and technological leadership. 

(The author is lead, investments, Equirus InnovateX Fund. Views are personal.)