India Tech Report: In Conversation

India Tech Report
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Conversations with founders, investors, industry leaders, and other stakeholders building India’s deep tech and climate tech ecosystems. indiatechreport.in

  1. Engineer, operator, VC: Ravi Jain at TDK Ventures on India’s deep tech scene

    1D AGO

    Engineer, operator, VC: Ravi Jain at TDK Ventures on India’s deep tech scene

    In this episode, Ravi Jain, an Investment Director in India at TDK Ventures, joins me for a wide-ranging discussion on the current state and trajectory of India’s deep tech ecosystem. Jain gives us a micro capsule on the history of TDK, developing technologies for sectors spanning automotive, energy storage, and power electronics, and the strategic rationale for launching its corporate venture arm in 2019. He talks about TDK Ventures’ mandate to invest in startups poised to shape emerging markets and tomorrow’s standards, noting the recent expansion of the firm’s India operations, and a global portfolio that includes investments across sectors such as semiconductors, advanced materials, robotics, quantum technologies, AI, mobility, climate tech and clean energy and agri-tech. Jain addresses macroeconomic drivers, including government policy, manufacturing incentives, and evolving founder ambitions, that position India for accelerated growth in deep tech. He explains the sector’s optimism despite talent and funding challenges, and highlights the increasing sophistication of Indian deep tech founders, their pragmatism, and the snowballing effect of policy and market maturation. He also talks about TDK Ventures’ approach to hardware versus software startups, university-driven entrepreneurship, and the imperative for foundational work in AI. Jain also shares reflections from his own career, distilling practical advice for future deep tech entrepreneurs navigating India’s rapidly changing technology landscape.   Also listen to: India Tech Report: Daily Morning Brief.   To subscribe to my posts: India Tech Report

    1h 6m
  2. Coming up: Ravi Jain at TDK Ventures on the promise of India’s rising deep tech ecosystem

    4D AGO

    Coming up: Ravi Jain at TDK Ventures on the promise of India’s rising deep tech ecosystem

    Coming up, on Tuesday, Sep. 16th, in the next episode of India Tech Report: In Conversation, I speak with Ravi Jain at TDK Ventures on their recent Deep Tech Report report, in partnership with Kae Capital and how he sees the ecosystem evolving. Catch the full conversation next week right here, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here’s a two-minute preview.

    2 min
  3. RISC-V and beyond: GS Madhusudan at Incore Semiconductors on building India's chip industry future

    AUG 22

    RISC-V and beyond: GS Madhusudan at Incore Semiconductors on building India's chip industry future

    My guest in today’s episode is GS Madhusudan, Co-Founder and CEO of Incore Semiconductors, a company at the forefront of processor IP innovation in India. With nearly four decades of experience in the technology sector, Madhusudan has played a significant role in shaping India's semiconductor landscape. Before co-founding Incore in 2018, he managed the Shakti processor project at IIT Madras, which helped build foundational expertise for commercial processor design in the country. Incore Semiconductors, incubated at the institute, emerged from this ecosystem, focusing on RISC-V architecture to offer customisable processor IP for applications ranging from consumer electronics to automotive and industrial settings. Under Madhusudan's leadership, Incore is combining technical advancement with practical business strategies, offering solutions for secure, fault-tolerant, and AI-optimised processors. The company has developed a flexible SOC generator platform and collaborates with multiple foundries, supporting customers from IP licensing to product tape-out. Incore is backed by the well-known VC firm Peak XV Partners. Madhusudan remains an active advisor to government agencies. He emphasises the importance of talent development, marketing and product management, and practical deployment in India's quest for a stronger presence in the global semiconductor market. Some chapters (00:00) Building India's Semiconductor Industry (03:04) The Shakti Project and InCore's Foundation (06:09) Understanding RISC-V Architecture (08:54) Evolving Beyond Proprietary Processes (11:46) The Role of Marketing and Product Management (14:43) India's Semiconductor Opportunities (18:07) Challenges in the Semiconductor Market (20:52) The Importance of Talent Development (23:59) Future Prospects for Indian Semiconductor Startups (27:03) Navigating the Chip Business Landscape (29:44) Advice for Aspiring Semiconductor Professionals

    48 min
  4. Coming up: GS Madhusudan at Incore Semiconductors on India's fast evolving chip ecosystem

    AUG 20

    Coming up: GS Madhusudan at Incore Semiconductors on India's fast evolving chip ecosystem

    Coming up, in the next episode of In Conversation, G S Madhusudan, Co-Founder and CEO of InCore Semiconductors, gives us a sense of how far India's chip ecosystem has come, and how quickly it's evolving. Catch the full conversation on Friday, Aug. 22nd, right here or wherever you get your podcasts. Here's a one-minute preview.

    1 min
  5. Abhijit Bhutey and Vishal Reddy on Inbound Aerospace's microgravity platform in space

    AUG 14

    Abhijit Bhutey and Vishal Reddy on Inbound Aerospace's microgravity platform in space

    In this episode, I’m joined by Abhijit Bhutey and Vishal Reddy, co-founders of Inbound Aerospace, a startup incubated at IIT Madras. The discussion covers the origins of their journey—from an academic collaboration focused on microgravity research to building a company designed for commercial space experimentation. They started simply with how the idea came to Arvind IB, their fellow founder, when as a PhD student at IIT Madras, he was exploring microgravity through drop tower experiments. The idea became a startup when Aravind was joined by Vishal, whose background includes graduate studies in the United States, and Abhijit, a former pilot with the Indian Navy who aspired to space entrepreneurship. In this conversation they explain the challenges and opportunities in creating usable microgravity platforms, detailing Inbound Aerospace’s mission to develop a reusable spacecraft that will carry research projects to low earth orbit and bring experiments back safely to earth. Abhijit and Vishal give us insights into microgravity's usefulness in biotech, materials science, and semiconductors, and explain how their vehicle is being designed for efficient re-entry and autonomous landing. The founders also share early milestones, including team building, subsystem testing, and initial funding, and reflect on broader trends and gaps in the Indian space-tech ecosystem.

    47 min

  6. AUG 12

    Coming up: Founders of Inbound Aerospace on advanced manufacturing opportunities in microgravity

    Coming up on Aug. 14: Why are SpaceTech startups working to build various microgravity platforms and solutions catching the attention of investors?In this exciting field of science and engineering, experts see many possibilities: from drug discovery and better medicines to 3D-printed life-saving organ replacements to ultra-efficient semiconductors. In my next episode of IndiaTechReport: In Conversation, I catch up with Abhijit Bhutey and Vishal Reddy, co-founders at Inbound Aerospace along with ARAVIND I B, whose idea has become this venture. Backed by investors including Speciale Invest, and incubated at Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, this trio is developing an unmanned automated reusable platform for microgravity experiments in hashtag#AdvancedManufacturing.Another fine example of an attempt to contribute to hashtag#AatmanirbharBharat in a strategic tech domain, and I'm happy to bring you this conversation ahead of Independence Day. here's a 2-minute preview.

    3 min
  7. Rishabh Agarwal at PeerRobotics on breaking the adoption barriers for collaborative robots

    JUL 29

    Rishabh Agarwal at PeerRobotics on breaking the adoption barriers for collaborative robots

    In today’s episode, Rishabh Agarwal, Co-founder and CEO of PeerRobotics, gives us a sense of how automation is changing for small and mid-sized manufacturers and outlines his vision for collaborative robotics. Rishabh shares his experience and perspective on the factory floor transition to advanced robotics. With a background in manufacturing and technical training from IIT Delhi and the University of Maryland, Agarwal built PeerRobotics with the aim of simplifying human-robot interaction and making automation intuitive for even non-technical users. The six-year-old company’s systems are designed for practical deployment in diverse industrial settings, where robots learn routes through human demonstration and adapt to existing workflows. Agarwal also describes how PeerRobotics approaches product development, aiming to own the whole stack. The company takes advantage of doing much of its engineering and development at its centres in India, while also tapping advanced R&D experience in the US in certain areas like computer vision.

    39 min
  8. Arpit Agarwal on the India advantage in deep tech and Blume’s next fund

    JUL 22

    Arpit Agarwal on the India advantage in deep tech and Blume’s next fund

    My guest in today’s episode is Arpit Agarwal, a partner at Blume Ventures, one of India’s best known early-stage sector-agnostic VC firms with a solid track record of backing what Arpit describes as frontier technologies. In this episode, we discuss the challenges and advantages of building and scaling deep science and technology-based companies out of India. Arpit delves into his experience navigating the cycles of venture capital, the gradual shift to larger fund sizes at Blume, and the fundamentals that guide investment decisions. He also comments on international dynamics, including the movement of talent and capital in the context of AI being widely seen as the biggest opportunity for founders and investors alike. He weighs in on the shifting balance between hardware and software within India’s deep tech scene and identifies some of the most interesting investment themes. As Blume prepares to move into its fifth fund, Arpit is also happy to debate why sector-agnostic funds may be better placed to invest in deep tech.

    43 min
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Conversations with founders, investors, industry leaders, and other stakeholders building India’s deep tech and climate tech ecosystems. indiatechreport.in

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