Insider Brief
- India’s Startup Policy Forum launched DeepVerse to support deep-technology sectors, including quantum technology, through policy research, industry collaboration and consultations.
- The platform brings together an 18-member advisory board and 10 venture capital firms, alongside founders, government representatives, academics and technology companies.
- DeepVerse builds on an initiative that identified 100 Indian deep-technology startups and plans to publish policy recommendations across its focus sectors.
India’s Startup Policy Forum launched a center to give deep-technology companies, including quantum startups, a sustained role in shaping national policy, according to a news release.
The industry alliance said its Centre for DeepTech Innovation, called DeepVerse, will bring together investors, founders, government representatives, technology companies and academics to address barriers facing businesses built around scientific and engineering advances.
The platform has an 18-member advisory board and participation from 10 venture capital firms, according to SPF’s announcement. It will focus on policy discussions, research and industry collaboration, with a report outlining recommendations across its technology sectors expected to follow.
Quantum technology is among its priorities, alongside semiconductors, space technology, defense, biotechnology and health technology, clean energy, drones and aerospace, electric vehicles, advanced manufacturing and robotics.
Quantum technology’s inclusion on the list likely gives the field a place in DeepVerse’s policy work.
“India has the founders and, increasingly, the capital for world-class deeptech. Policy has to catch up. When companies take a decade to build, founders and investors need rules they can plan around, and a say in making them. DeepVerse institutionalises that voice,” said Shweta Rajpal Kohli, SPF’s president and CEO.
Deep technology generally refers to businesses built on substantial scientific research or engineering development. Often, these companies are difficult to scale because of the lengthy development periods before their products reach commercial markets.
SPF said earlier founder consultations addressed regulation, access to capital, talent and international expansion. DeepVerse will provide a permanent home for that work and a continuing channel for companies to contribute to policy discussions.
S. Krishnan, secretary of India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, welcomed the launch, saying cooperation among founders, investors, academia and government would support India’s deep-technology ambitions.
Investors and Founders Join
DeepVerse is guided by an Advisory Board of leading investors, founders, policymakers, academics and global technology leaders, who will shape the Centre’s priorities and direction, according to the release.
Advisory Board Members
Investors
- Prashanth Prakash, Partner, Accel India
- Anjali Bansal, Founding Partner, Avaana Capital
- Pankaj Mitra, Partner, Bessemer Venture Partners
- Anandamoy Roychowdhary,Managing Director, Crane Ventures
- Sateesh Andra, Managing Director, Endiya Partners
- Anand Prasanna, Managing Partner, Iron Pillar
- Hemant Mohapatra, Partner, Lightspeed
- Vishesh Rajaram, Managing Partner, Speciale Invest
- Ishpreet Singh Gandhi, Founder & CEO, Stride Asset Management
Founders
- Naman Pushp, Founder & CEO, Airbound
- Tarun Mehta, Co-founder & CEO, Ather Energy
- Pawan Chandana, Co-Founder & CEO, Skyroot Aerospace
- Anirudh Sharma, Founder& CEO, Digantara
Policy, Academia and Global Technology
- Dr. Panneerselvam Madanagopal, CEO, MeitY Startup Hub
- Dr. B. Chagun Basha, Chief Policy Adviser, Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India
- Shweta Rajpal Kohli, President & CEO, Startup Policy Forum
- Dr. D. Premachandra Sagar, Pro-Chancellor, Dayananda Sagar University
- Aditi Nanda, Director of Ecosystem and Industry, Intel India
The Centre’s work spans ten focus sub-sectors: Biotech, Quantum Tech, Semiconductors, Drones, Spacetech, Defence Tech, Electric Vehicles (EV), Advanced Manufacturing & Robotics and Cleantech & Energy.
The center builds on SPF’s #100DesiDeepTechs initiative, developed with MeitY Startup Hub, Startup India under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, and IIT Madras.
Announced in July 2025 and formally launched that October, the initiative identified a cohort of 100 Indian deep-technology startups in May 2026, according to SPF. Over eight months, the organization held founder discussions in innovation centers including Delhi and Bengaluru.
SPF describes itself as an independent, nonprofit alliance representing more than 75 Indian technology companies with a combined valuation exceeding $100 billion. Its forthcoming report is expected to detail the policy actions DeepVerse seeks across its focus sectors.
