Deeptech venture capital (VC) firm 8X Ventures, Arctic Invent, and SanchiConnect have joined forces to launch India’s first privately managed deeptech innovation hub that will engage with up to 10 deeptech startups in the first year with no dilution on the equity front.
Collectively, the hub targets to mobilise $100 million in the Indian deeptech ecosystem.
The hub will operate from a campus in Noida with more than 7,000 square feet of area and has ambitious growth plans to move to a larger 100,000 square feet space over the next year to accommodate the growing interest from startups, VCs, and related ecosystem members.
The facility will feature space for state-of-the-art labs, collaborative workspaces, critical shared resources to scale deeptech startups, and exclusive access to industry-leading mentors and experts, according to an official announcement from the grouping.
The hub is collecting interests for participation at www.deeptech.social.
Chirag Gupta, managing partner, 8X Ventures, talking about the initiative, said, “We hold the conviction that Indian deeptech innovators of today will become globally transformative companies tomorrow. That only happens with sufficient support. It is about time that NCR’s growing startup ecosystem had a hub like the one we are building.”
8X Ventures, an early-stage deeptech VC firm led by Chirag Gupta, recently announced the first close of its second INR 200 crore deeptech fund. Their previous fund has invested in Solinas Integrity, XYMA Analytics, Patherun Technologies, Lightspeed Photonics, and Zenpulsar.
SanchiConnect, a software-as-a-service platform, supports over 3,000 deeptech startups and more than 500 academic incubators, mentors, corporates, institutional funds, and technology partners.
Further, Arctic Invent, founded in 2013, is a full-service intellectual property rights (IPR) consulting firm that helps businesses protect their innovations and creative works.
Talking about the initiative, Sunil Shekhawat, CEO, SanchiConnect, said, “We are excited to lay the foundation of India’s first privately managed deeptech innovation hub. This initiative intends to support the deeptech ecosystem in the country by offering vital support and resources to startups that have moved past the incubation phase. We aim to help them focus on their core business and bring their ideas to market steadily.”
