The India Deep

Science Tech Report

A ringside view into the Indian
deep science tech ecosystem
 We are excited to present The India Deep Science Tech report, an in-
Foreword depth look into the latest investment trends in India's deep science
tech sector. This report underscores Ankur Capital's commitment to
nurturing innovations that have the power to redefine industries and
improve lives.

India's emergence as a breeding ground for deep science tech is a

phenomenon we've closely witnessed. Entrepreneurs are harnessing
the power of technologies like artificial intelligence, biotechnology,
and material science to address complex challenges. Our Deep
Science Tech report maps the investment landscape, spotlighting
sectors like healthcare, agriculture, and energy where deep science
tech solutions are making transformative strides.

This growth underscores the faith in India's talent and the innovative
spirit driving this sector forward. This report aims not just to highlight
successes but also to foster discussions on overcoming challenges to
accelerate deep science tech's growth in India.

We hope this report serves as a valuable tool for entrepreneurs,

investors, and policymakers, sparking further interest and investment
in India's deep science tech ecosystem.

Ankur Capital | Deep Science Tech Report 02

 Data and
Methodology
We have defined deep science tech companies as ones building
on fundamental science breakthroughs in one of four
technologies (AI, biotechnology, advanced materials and
electronics & photonics) and either filed for or received patents for
their tech.

The investment data encompasses startups founded in or after

2010. We have limited transaction data to equity investments into
deep science tech startups in the 2010-2023 period. The data was
obtained from Tracxn and media reports.

The report is grounded in our conversations with over 500 early-

stage entrepreneurs over the past couple of years, and our
learnings from supporting deep science tech companies across
technologies and sectors since 2016.

Ankur Capital | Deep Science Tech Report 03

Table of contents
01
Defining deep science tech
Innovations coming from years of R&D
and at the forefront of science research
02
Ecosystem enablers
Outlining global and India-specific
enablers for the deep science tech
startup ecosystem
Ankur Capital | Deep Science Tech Report
03
The unique journey
Understanding the risks and opportunities on
the journey to unlock large markets and solve
urgent global problems
04
Technology deep dives
Diving into the forefront of AI,
biotechnology, advanced materials and
electronics & photonics
04
 Section 01

A lay of the land

The deep science tech ecosystem

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Companies built on scientific
breakthroughs offer large
market opportunities
We are faced with urgent and These problems pertain to
existential global problems multi-billion dollar markets

Climate change, pandemics and food Deep science tech solutions

security are a few of them that require come from fundamental
fundamental shift in tools to tackle breakthroughs and create

$100B $100B
them. These problems require paradigm shifts, thus the
solutions that go beyond unique products from these
business models. For example, global innovations have the
grid decarbonization can only happen potential to unlock multiple
with development of better and more billion-dollar markets worth
viable storage solutions. of value.
Battery Synthetic
storage biology
$60B
Green

$45B hydrogen

$35B Molecular
ASICs diagnostics

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What we consider to be deep science involves cutting-edge
research and innovation at the forefront of scientific discovery
Differentiated products with significant market
disruption potential
Pasteur’s quadrant defines a deep science tech approach
Deep science tech refers to companies coming from years of
scientific R&D, inventing breakthrough technologies and
building IP-centred businesses using them. They Pertinent to immediate applications
combine IP with physical assets to create highly differentiated No Yes
products to target large markets such as healthcare, food,
electronics and energy.

Strong and durable moats protected by IP Yes

These companies are characterized by high barriers to entry, Pure basic Use inspired basic
particularly when it comes to deep knowledge development. research (Bohr) research (Pasteur)
Quest for
These deep and strong moats are durable over time, as they rely fundamental
on fundamental science innovation over business model understanding
innovation, as well as a strong IP strategy to protect the
underlying breakthrough.
No
Unique journeys that create new products Pure applied research
(Edison)
A deep science tech startup’s journey involves taking a lab-scale
innovation to an equally world-class product. Such a journey
involves multiple techno-commercial milestones, each of which Deep science tech approaches are characterized by a fusion of basic and applied
catapults the value created by the venture. These innovations research. The fundamental breakthroughs are guided by applications to solve
create technological platforms unlocking novel use cases in their pressing real-world problems.
target sectors.
Source: Pasteur’s Quadrant by Donald Stokes

Ankur Capital | Deep Science Tech Report 07

Deep science tech Lithium-ion batteries: Deep science that is
innovation creates Focus
now key to the energy transition

first-of-a-kind Foundational work on chemistry and intercalation electrodes was done in the 1980s and
90s. This led to the first prototypes of a viable battery that could work in the field.

technology platforms As the technology matured and market demand picked up, lithium-ion batteries grew
into a $50 billion+ market. Today it’s a critical piece in the climate change mitigation
puzzle. The foundational tech, led by large battery manufacturers such as CATL, has
created a platform enabling the birth and growth of allied companies - Tesla being a
prime example.

Deep science tech innovations spin off multiple products

Our focus is on four technologies driving current
The core of a deep science tech company is a scientific breakthrough
in one or more of these fields. The fundamental nature of the
deep science: artificial intelligence, biotechnology
innovation enables the creation of a technology platform, which is & synthetic biology, advanced materials and
capable of addressing multiple problems to address multiple large
markets. electronics & photonics
Today’s deep science is tomorrow’s mainstream tech

Deep science tech ventures create “first of a kind” products,

where the technological derisking creates extremely high value.
Lithium-ion batteries, for example, needed the technological
derisking of a deep science approach to eventually become a key
in the decarbonization puzzle.

Ankur Capital | Deep Science Tech Report 08

Companies focused on deep science tech
have different journeys with unique needs
Early journey involves achieving techno-commercial milestones
Digital Deep Science
A deep science tech company’s journey is very different from a digital or Tech
SaaS startup. There are multiple pre-product technical milestones to hit to
mitigate the early science and technology risk. These involve establishing
the technological viability and real-world credibility of the innovation with Grant
Grants R&D
pilot projects, establishing & scaling up the (sometimes novel)
manufacturing process and filing for IP. Hitting these milestones enable a
deep science company to create significant value before earning revenue. R&D and
Pre-seed Product development prototype

Early growth involves mitigating engineering and regulatory risk

As a deep science tech company scales, its innovation is approaching

Product-market fit
Pilots and
market-readiness. At this point, the company’s priority is to secure early Seed and
IP filing
Early revenue
revenue; to do so, the company needs to show efficacy and economic
viability at the scale of real-world deployment as well as in manufacturing.
This usually involves engineering de-risking. In some cases the product will Manufacturing setup,
also need to go through regulatory or qualification processes before market Series A Early growth Early orders,
readiness. Regulatory approval

Series B Growth and Growth and

Project finance and debt play a role as physical infrastructure expansion
and onwards expansion
needs arise
Once the order pipeline is significant, a deep science tech venture would
need debt funding to scale-up manufacturing and secure the supply chain A digital and a deep science tech company undertake vastly different
for its input materials. activities at their early stages until they reach their growth and expansion
stage.

Ankur Capital | Deep Science Tech Report 09

A deep science tech journey is characterized by increasing
maturity, measured in technology readiness levels

Technology
Readiness 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Level

Funding Series B and

Grants Seed Series A
stage onwards

Key Fundamental and Prototypes and early pilots Pilots and first orders Manufacturing scale-up &
technological translational research maturity
activities
Early manufacturing Next-gen platform products
setup

Risks Science risk Science risk Engineering risk Execution risk

Engineering risk

Ankur Capital | Deep Science Tech Report 10

As the technology matures, there are specific risks to overcome
Technology Scale up Risk
The efficacy of a new technology at
lab scale may not translate to the
scale to a real application scenario.
This represents a challenge
whether the tech is a new battery
chemistry, fermentation via
proprietary microbes, or scaffolds
for cultivated meat.
Ankur Capital | Deep Science Tech Report
Technology Protection Risks
A deep science tech innovation
always faces the risk of competing
technologies and maintaining its
right to win in the technological
landscape by creating the right IP
portfolio and barriers to entry.
Partnership Risks
The route to market typically involves
partnerships with large incumbents.
This is a tricky journey as the startup
has to navigate negotiations with a
larger incumbent while maintaining
their market upside. This is accentuated
by the fact that these negotiations are
typically multi-year engagements.
Economic Viability Risk
As the technology moves to the
market, it sits on the risk that it may
not be cost-competitive at that
scale. Ensuring that the product is a
viable market alternative is an
involved journey, involving critical
material and process choices.
11
Today, there are multiple
enablers for the emergence of
deep science tech companies…
Scientific method has graduated to a data-driven paradigm
Over the last 50 years, the scientific method has entered its computational, and
subsequently, data-driven paradigm. This has unlocked the study and control of more
complex systems, hand-in-hand with advances in computational hardware and algorithms.
Overall, this has sped up the scientific discovery process.
Innovations are based on brand new building blocks
Science has developed new building blocks - gene sequencing, powerful computation - and
their costs have been falling exponentially. As these costs go down, they have superlinear
effects: not only do they make existing processes cheaper, they also unlock brand new use
cases and create a platforms to build innovations.
Democratization of knowledge and access to tools
Access to scientific literature and datasets around the world has become easier, enabling
faster and more effective collaboration. Open source algorithms, as well as wide access to
AI platforms, has fostered innovation hubs around the world.
Ankur Capital | Deep Science Tech Report
Computational materials
discovery is accelerating and
changing the way we discover
Focus
new materials
The computational and data-driven acceleration of science
has enabled cheaper and faster iterations of hypotheses and
experiments. This has brought costs and timelines down, but
it has also unlocked entirely new paths to discovery.
A case in point is that of materials discovery: until the late
20th century, new materials were discovered serendipitously
or by using some heuristic rules of thumb, and these new
materials were then purposed for applications that benefited
from their properties. AI-driven processes flip this around
from a serendipitous to a systematic process. Powered by
large databases, materials discovery now starts with the
desired properties of a new material. High-throughput
screening methods are used to effectively identify new
materials for specific use cases. US-based startup Citrine
Informatics, for example, has accelerated Panasonic’s
discovery of new organic semiconductors by necessitating
only 196 simulations to discover four new materials out of a
search space of over a million candidates.
Right now, such a process brings the time-to-market for a
new material down by half or better. As we continue to
improve the underlying data and algorithms, the virtuous
cycle that ensues will unlock even newer methods that
change the face of materials discovery.
12
Along with India-specific enablers Indian biotechnology startups have secured over $50M of

to accelerate deep science tech

pre-seed grant funding via the BIRAC BIG grant

500
Concerted policy push on key sectors
Over the past five years, there has been a central push to accelerate R&D and
larger-scale deployment in key strategic technologies,. These are driven by 400
organized efforts such as the India Semiconductor Mission and the National
Quantum Mission. Each of these initiatives is channeling over $1B into research,
startups and industry-academia partnerships. This channeling of effort and
300
capital is accelerating innovation and market access for new technologies.

Availability of grants for early-stage startups

200
Government-sponsored grants are available for translational research and early
deep science startups. Such grants are disbursed via deep science incubators as
well as technology-specific agencies like DBT and MeitY. The DBT’s BIRAC BIG
grant alone supported over 900 entrepreneurs over the past decade. The recent 100

National Deep Tech Startup Policy draft is another step to ensure early support for
deep science solutions.

0
Increasingly competitive R&D and talent 16-17 17-18 18 -19 19-20 20-21 21-22 22-23

Indian research is globally competitive, driven by an increased focus on

BIRAC’s Biotechnology Ignition Grant (BIG) has been a key source
translational research. Nationwide R&D spending doubled from 2011 to 2021. The
of non-dilutive funding for biotechnology startups since its
upcoming National Research Foundation is set to further accelerate it with a $6B
inception over a decade ago. The grants have resulted in over 500
outlay over the next five years with much of it coming from the private sector. In
patents being filed
fields including AI, chip design and biotechnology, India has world-leading
engineering talent, with many top professionals bringing their technical expertise
Source: BIRAC annual reports
and experience to deep science entrepreneurship.

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India is emerging as a great place to build high-value
deep science tech companies
Early deep science tech
startups have led the way
A large number of tech-led
businesses were built in the
2010s, particularly in
semiconductors, biotech and
spacetech. Some of them have
secured successful exits, such
as Saankhya Labs’ acquisition
by Tejas Networks, and
Richcore Lifesciences’
acquisition by Laurus Labs.
Ankur Capital | Deep Science Tech Report
Readiness to ascend the
value chain across sectors
Across sectors, the Indian
ecosystem is moving to
develop higher-value products.
This is true in semiconductors,
where companies are moving
from design services to creating
new IP and their own chips; and
in pharma, where the industry
is moving from generic drugs
to new innovation. Deep
science technologies play a
major role in ascending the
value chain.
Rapid market access and
large domestic markets
The nimble nature of Indian
industry reduces negotiation
timeframes, enabling swift
iterations of pilot projects and
ultimately a shorter time-to-
market for deep science
solutions. India also serves as an
ideal testing ground for new
technologies: it offers the ability
to pilot in extreme conditions
and large domestic markets for
new technologies to tap into,
e.g. green hydrogen in India
alone is poised to be a $15B
market in 2030.
Capital efficient solutions
in overlooked markets
India offers a capital efficient
path for deep science solutions
at R&D, early pilot and
manufacturing stages. The kind
of companies emerging are
targeting large markets in
overlooked areas, such as rice
decarbonization, low-powered
mobility and low-cost AI
replacements for
mammograms. These solutions
have global potential. One
great example is CAR-T cell
therapy developed by
ImmunoACT, expected to be
bring down cost by 10X.
Access to growth capital
on the rise in key sectors
Beyond grant funding, seed
capital too is available for
startups to access as an
increasing number of investors
are participating in the space.
Growth capital is relatively
sparse, but we are seeing
increased participation in
growth-stage investment by
both financial and strategic
investors in the energy and
spacetech sectors.
14
The Indian deep science tech ecosystem is in its early
stages, with some areas yet to reach maturity
Limited participation from
domestic corporates & strategic
investors
In countries such as the US, startups in
tech-led sectors such as pharma, energy
and semiconductors are supported by
partnerships and strategic investments by
large corporates. This sort of collaboration
is limited in India. Industry-startup
engagement is slow to pick up.
Ankur Capital | Deep Science Tech Report
Lack of diversified growth
capital across sectors
While seed stage capital for early
technological derisking has been readily
available of late, later capital at the Series
A stage and beyond has been limited to a
few key sectors and investors. Lack of this
diversified growth capital is a roadblock
for ventures as they aim to mitigate their
engineering and manufacturing risk.
Startups’ limited ability to
recruit and retain top talent
While India does have top talent in
science & technology fields, historically
this talent has been at large less risky
organizations, whether in industry or
academia. Startups particularly at the
early-stage face challenges in attracting
key personnel who can drive engineering,
strategy and sales.
Regulatory challenges to promote
innovation
Regulations need to keep pace with the
changing technology landscape and
enable commercialization of deep science
innovations. Lack of clarity on the
regulatory path is a challenge and has
hindered private and corporate
investment. Encouragingly, there has
been a recent push towards developing a
progressive regulatory environment, e.g.
in synthetic biology and genetic
engineering.
15
 Total deep science tech investments over 3 year periods

Deep science tech Total investment Number of investments

160
1200
investments in India crossed

Number of investments
$1 billion over the last 3 years 900
120

Total investments ($M)

80
Investment is doubling every 3 years 600

Total deep science tech investments have doubled

or better in every tracked three year period, and 40
crossed $1 billion in the 2021-2023 period. 300

0 0
Steady growth in number of investments
The number of investment rounds over time is Number of investments exceeding $5M over 3 year periods
increasing at a linear rate, pointing to steady
investment activity in deep science tech companies. Number of Investments
40

Number of investments
Significant growth in larger investment rounds
30
While the number of investments have been
growing linearly, the number of investment rounds
over $5M has been growing exponentially. This
number too, has followed the rule of three: it has 20
doubled in every 3-year period.

10

Ankur Capital | Deep Science Tech Report 0 16

 Total deep science tech investments
Increased activity in new and
follow-on activity happening
across technologies
Barring corrections as a result of macroeconomic trends, both the number
of fresh and follow-on investments have risen. The number of follow-on
investments crossed the fresh investment number in 2016-17, signaling
investor commitment to doubling down on scale-up.

Investment numbers are not overly skewed by

outlier rounds
While some companies, such as Grey Orange, raised $100M+ in a
single year, (driving exponential results in total investment
volume), growth in the number of funding rounds is more holistic -
demonstrating overall growth of the sector
Number of investments exceeding $5M

Recent growth-stage funding mostly towards

biotech and materials

Number of investments
The last three year period has seen significant advances in
advanced materials and biotech investment rounds, driven
primarily by solutions for energy transition, spacetech, and biotech.
Electronics as a technology is still nascent, representative of limited
funding into the space.

Ankur Capital | Deep Science Tech Report 17

Section 02

Diving into the tech

We see deep science innovation being
driven by four key technologies

Artificial Biotech Advanced Electronics

Intelligence Materials and Photonics
Ankur Capital | Deep Science Tech Report 18
 01.
Artificial
Ankur Capital | Deep Science Tech Report
Intelligence
Larger AI models and new datasets Some of India’s noteworthy deep science tech AI companies

are driving deep science solutions

There are some key trends and breakthroughs driving deep science AI innovation

New AI approaches and democratization via accessible models: Major advances in AI

paradigms are taking place every 5-7 years, with GANs in 2014 and transformer models in 2018.
Each of these unlocks new types of use cases. New LLMs, particularly ones built and trained in Trends in LLM sizes
India, coming online democratizes the access to state-of-the-art AI and creates a platform on
Model Size
which to build tech.
(in billions of parameters)
Effectiveness of larger models: Increases in computational capacity have driven a 1000x
increase in the size of AI models over 5 years. As models get larger, they unlock new behaviour
altogether and become “unreasonably effective” at novel tasks. 1000
GPT 3
(175B)
Availability of novel and high-quality datasets: The availability of novel and high-quality
datasets is a major enabler of AI, e.g. materials discovery is powered by material property 100
databases. In many cases, the moat, or the differentiation of a company comes directly from Megatron Megatron
- LM Turing -NLG
the data it has access to or generates.
(8.3B) (17.2B)
10 Turing -
This is creating multiple opportunities
NLG
T5
Novel datasets and synthetic data: As companies differentiate themselves based on data (17.2B)
(11B)
they have access to, creation of artificial data to train AI models across sectors is emerging. 01

Smaller domain-specific LLMs: Even though current large LLMs are increasingly effective, GPT - 2
(1.5B)
their energy and resource consumption is high. There is a need to build and train smaller
0.1
BERT -
LLMs that focus on specific problems, in turn reducing energy consumption. Large
ELMo (340M)
AI is an enabler of allied deep science solutions: AI is accelerating scientific discovery and 2022
(94M)
indirectly creating new innovations in synthetic biology, novel advanced materials and 0.01

semiconductor chip design. 2018 2019 2020 2021

State-of-the-art AI models are increasingly exponentially in size, unlocking new

We consider AI deep science to encompass AI-centred solutions in healthcare, spacetech and image analysis, agriculture, capabilities. This enables working with larger datasets and also facilitates the
and robotics. These innovations combine AI with expertise in diagnostic techniques, genomic data, mechatronics and
study of more complex phenomena with an AI approach
energy, with the ventures centred around application-driven IP.

Ankur Capital | Deep Science Tech Report

20
The Data Corner
Deep science AI investments
Spectral image and genomic data analysis have driven funding: Most deep science AI
companies out of India have focused on using AI for image analysis from robotics, satellite
and radiology data, as well as genomic data analysis for diagnostics and personalized
medicine.

Significant follow-on funding for early AI companies: Significantly more companies have
raised follow-on funding of late, with 5 investments over $10M in 2022 compared to the
next-highest of just 2 investments over $10M in 2023. Moreoever, the number and
quantum of fresh investments in AI deep science has slowed in the past few years,
signifying a need for better ordered and structured data in fields outside of image analysis.

Investment numbers are skewed by some large rounds: Over half of the $700M+ in
follow-on funding captured is driven by Grey Orange as they have grown and absorbed
$370M in the last 5 years to build out the physical infrastructure that leverages their AI
algorithms.

AI solutions have addressed specific and contextual problems: AI has addressed many
problems in healthcare and agriculture such as disease screening, breeding climate-
resilient seed varieties, and satellite imagery for agricultural advisory. These solutions are Deep science AI investments by application
emerging out of India-specific contexts and are unified by irregular datasets as well as
complex underlying science. The models created are robust and have the ability to work Other
with unstructured datasets, thereby unlocking larger, global markets for expansion. 19%

A rise in AI-focused research, CoEs and corporate participation: Leading AI companies

are already present in India and actively participating with academia and MeitY to set up AI Healthcare
CoEs across India, focusing in particular on agriculture and health. 43%

There are nuances involved in creating a moat for an AI innovation: AI models and Robotics
algorithms are typically not directly patentable, as they are considered as abstract ideas 19%
and not direct solutions with novelty and an inventive step. Typically then, a patent is filed
for an entire AI-based platform or product. Because of this, the overall moat and
ringfencing consists of these patents, access to proprietary data, and details of proprietary
algorithms that are excluded from the patent. Spacetech
19%
Ankur Capital | Deep Science Tech Report 21
Niramai: Building a first-of-a-kind AI deep
science solution in India requires high
model accuracy and customer acceptance
R&D and model development
Initial R&D
The company is a classic example of a
corporate spin-out. Initial model development
was carried out with R&D funding at the
corporate and subsequent model
development and testing was supported by
grants, largely from Startup Karnataka.
Ankur Capital | Deep Science Tech Report
Niramai developed an AI based model to screen for breast cancer
using thermal imaging, offering a much-needed accurate screening
tool for a space that has traditionally relied on more expensive
mammograms. Founded in 2016, the company has developed a
technology platform differentiated by the virtuous cycle of an
accurate model and high-quality data feeding into each other.
Establishing validity via pilots Regulatory approval, revenue and new products
IP and R&D Platformization
The company strengthened its models and Niramai’s core tech was also platformized on two fronts: (a) its
honed accuracy. In parallel they expanded algorithm could be deployed in different device form factors
their IP portfolio for protection in multiple and (b) the company built solutions for newer diseases such
markets. as river blindness.
Establishing Efficacy FDA approval and distribution
In the medical community it is imperative that new The Series A fundraise enabled regulatory CE and FDA
technologies establish themselves through clinical approvals. Both are referred to as global gold standards.
trials against gold standards that already exist.
Niramai’s first fundraise largely went to conducting
Partnerships
clinical trials with credible hospitals.
Niramai established partnerships for distribution, such as
with MolBio Diagnostics as a distribution partner.
Onboarding KOLs
It was important to build the technology’s credibility Other Financing
and strengthen its value proposition, especially Niramai hasn’t needed debt or project financing for physical
since Niramai is offering an alternative to the infrastructure scale-up as it is primarily an AI company.
standard mammogram.
22
Ankur Capital | Deep Science Tech Report
Biotech 02.
Multiomics datasets and tools Some of India’s noteworthy deep science tech biotech companies

such as NGS, CRISPR and AI have

driven biotechnology innovation
The key trends and breakthroughs driving deep science biotechnology innovation

Next Generation Sequencing: Faster sequencing of genomic information (whole genome,

exome, and genes) has led to an explosion of genomic data along with novel biomarkers.
The cost of sequencing has fallen even faster than the exponential increase of computing
power dictated by Moore’s law
Cost of sequencing a human genome over time
CRISPR gene editing: The 2012 discovery of the CRISPR-Cas9 genome-editing toolkit
opened doors for highly targeted genetic modifications to address challenges in
therapeutics, diagnostics as well as other industries.

AI-based multi-omic modelling: New machine learning and deep learning models such as
AlphaFold for protein sequences, structures are accelerating discovery of novel
biomolecules.

This is creating multiple opportunities

Personalized medicine: Availability of genomic data and relevant biological DNA/RNA/protein

diseases markers has made personalized medicine such as cell and gene therapy a reality.
Molecular diagnostics: Novel DNA amplification and editing enzymatic systems such as Cas-9 are
being used to develop highly sensitive and specific molecular diagnostics solutions.
Bioprocesses for industrial chemicals production: India is emerging as a manufacturing hub for
specialty chemicals, an industry valued at $32 billion. The industry is looking for sustainable
process alternatives to meet its net zero targets, and biological processes using either
fermentation or enzymes are a viable solution.
Cost of whole genome sequencing has fallen at a superexponential
Bio-Agri-Inputs for farm productivity: Biotechnological inputs and seeds for better nitrogen
rate in the last 25 years
fixation, tolerance to environmental stresses can improve farm productivities
Source: National Human Genome Research Institute

Ankur Capital | Deep Science Tech Report 24

The Data Corner Deep science biotech investments

Significant funding in biotechnology post COVID-19: Nearly $900 million has been invested
into biotechnology startups between 2013-2023. The timeline between subsequent rounds of
investments has reduced since 2020 to less than 2 years as investors became increasingly
bullish on the growth of the biotech industry in India.

Growth stage funding into therapeutics and diagnostics deployed for scaling up
and clinical trials: The need to develop technologies against COVID or similar
zoonotic diseases as well as Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR) are key drivers in
accelerating follow on growth investments into therapeutics and diagnostics, which
form around 91% of the investments. Molbio Diagnostics raised $85 million in 2022 for
large scale production and deployment of their TrueNAT device. Bugworks raised $18
M in 2021 to continue pre-clinical and clinical studies for an immuno-oncology drug
and a broad spectrum antibacterial molecule.

Net-zero targets driving biotechnology investments in the agri-food and chemical

industries: Investments in the agri-food sector have focused on novel agri-inputs such as
Deep science biotech investments by application
biostimulants and alternate protein technologies which reduce GHG emissions. String Bio
Agri-Food
and Sea 6 energy are two of the largest companies in this sector. Most of the investments in
8%
this sector have happened post 2019 with companies such as MyoWorks, GreenPod Labs,
Zero Cow Factory raising seed funding, while first generation companies such as String Bio
and Bioprime Agri Solutions raising follow on rounds.

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are the primary source of exits: Richcore Lifesciences
Therapeutics
(acquired by Laurus Labs) and Strand Lifesciences (Acquired by Reliance Industry Limited's Diagnostics 52%
arm, Reliance Strategic Business Ventures) are examples of M&As in the biotechnology 40%
industry, although they have happened over a time period of around 15 years. However, a
large percentage of M&As have been concentrated in the pharmaceutical industry- Serum
Institute Life Sciences with a minority stake in Biocon Biologics Limited for $150 million, and
IPCA Laboratories Limited acquired Unichem Laboratories Limited for $126 million.
Ankur Capital | Deep Science Tech Report 25
String Bio: Building a synthetic biology
platform in India requires quality R&D
and biomanufacturing capabilities
Early R&D and proprietary microbial
Technology validation, platform creation and process scale-up
strains
Initial prototype
The company was incubated at a
bioincubator in Bengaluru to begin its
initial experiments using a microbial
system to convert methane into
single-cell proteins. Established first
proof-of-concept microbes capable of
converting methane to proteins in
shake flasks, with the fermentation
process optimized at 50L scale.
Ankur Capital | Deep Science Tech Report
Founded in 2013, String Bio leverages synthetic biology to create a
proprietary microbial platform to convert greenhouse gases into targeted
biological products. String Bio leverages its core platform technology to
manufacture climate positive products for multiple sectors, such as
protein for animal nutrition, crop inputs for agriculture, small molecules
for cosmetics, each of which are large $100B+ markets.
Partnerships and manufacturing
scale-up
IP filing and platform Regulatory approvals
Growth and Expansion
creation
Patents were filed to protect the Strategic partnership with Woodside Energy
Registration for biostimulant
microbial platform technology and the as part of a $20M fundraise;
product, GRAS for protein
process of converting methane to single Scaling up biomanufacturing capacity of the
for animal and human use
cell proteins (38 patent applications, 15 order of 10s of kilolitres in India and outside.
granted as of 2023). Established the
‘String Integrated Methane Platform’ to
Step-function revenue increase
spin off biostimulant, livestock feed and
specialty chemical products.
Revenues to kick in from the sale of products
from the large upcoming facilities.
Pilot Studies and Validation
Replicated and optimized the process at
larger scales and externally validated the
products through university-led studies.
Started commercialization of the animal
nutrition followed by the agri products.
26
 03.
Advanced
Ankur Capital | Deep Science Tech Report
Materials
Computational discovery and Some noteworthy deep science tech advanced materials companies

functional materials are driving

novel materials advances
The key breakthroughs driving advanced materials innovation

Improved computational tools and datasets: Inspired by drug discovery,

initiatives like the Materials Genome Initiative have led to new & improved datasets,
as well as better computational tools for materials science

New paradigm of computational materials discovery: High-throughput screening

Number of materials informatics projects and
for materials has emerged to cut time-to-market for a new material by half, and has
infrastructures over time
transformed materials discovery to an outcome-driven approach from its earlier
heuristic approach relying on serendipity 50

Number of materials science centres

New material platforms are being discovered: Quantum materials in particular is
an exciting space considering the new-found ability to exploit quantum effects in
40
2D materials
Discovery
platforms
These breakthroughs are unlocking new opportunities
30

Energy transition technologies: There is a need for newer energy transition

technologies (e.g. Fe-Cr flow batteries), as well as improvements to existing ones
(silicon anodes for lithium batteries) for storage and mobility applications. The 20
Data centres
global energy storage market in 2030 is projected to be north of $400B

Better carbon materials needed: The need for better carbon materials has never 10
been more evident, ranging from graphene to nanotubes and high-area activated Databases
carbons. These technologies will see a broad range of applications from
applications are across the board ranging from energy to waste treatment 0
1990 2000 2010
Materials discovery platforms: Computational platforms which can aid in novel Number of materials informatics projects and evolution of data
material discoveries are the need of the hour. Startups such as Kebotix and Citrine infrastructure over time, divided into three periods that reflect the
are leading the way, with Indian startups such as ScidentAi and Artinary also paradigm shift - the growth is exponential highlighting the
entering the fray dominance of this trend.
Ankur Capital | Deep Science Tech Report 28
Source: Himanen et. al., Advanced Science 6, 1900808 (2019).
The Data Corner Deep science advanced materials investments

Recent investment numbers are dominated by battery solution companies: Log9

and Exponent Energy, with total investment amounts unaffected by broader market
trends, seeing high activity in 2022 and even 2023. Moreover, the number of follow-on
rounds has also been steadily increasing year-on-year.

Fresh investments have mirrored broader market trends: The number of fresh
investments peaked in 2021 and the subsequent reduction has mirrored broader
macroeconomic trends in 2022 and 2023, where seed investments have slowed down
despite follow-on investments rising steadily

Strategic investments and JVs amping up for materials startups: Companies in the
energy space are entering joint ventures with large incumbents who are making
strategic investments: this can be seen with Amara Raja and Log9’s partnership, as
well as Graphite India’s recent strategic investment into Godi Energy

Energy transition and spacetech are driving advanced material innovation in India:
The energy transition, consisting of energy storage and other materials enabling the Deep Science advanced materials investments by application
renewable grid, as well as space technologies have accounted for almost all of the
investment activity in this space Climate materials
17%

Energy storage
55%
Spacetech
28%

Ankur Capital | Deep Science Tech Report 29

OffGrid: Materials & chemistry innovation
Founded in 2018, OffGrid developed novel formulations to
overcome performance issues and scalability of existing
zinc-based battery technology. The company’s core IP lies
needs science and manufacturing derisking in the battery electrolyte, electrode and design
innovations. Post real-world validation, OffGrid aims to

to hit the market position itself as a leading IP and technology player in the
sustainable energy storage space.

R&D, product development and science Real-world pilots, tech and credibility-building partnerships Manufacturing setup and scale-up
derisking

Initial R&D IP and R&D

Solving for manufacturability

OffGrid spun out of an IIT Kanpur lab where
the co-founders had a breakthrough in the
development of zinc-based electrolytes for
batteries. The initial focus was to convert the
chemistry into a viable electrochemical cell
and subsequently, into a pack.
The pilot enabled the company to iterate and launch V2 of the battery,
along with a new form factor altogether for certain applications in cost-
sensitive markets. This marked the first step in creating a battery
chemistry platform. Ancillary patents were filed and the patent
portfolio was expanded to cover a larger geography.
Securing the supply chain
Creating a mature manufacturing setup involves
establishing multiple processes - these processes are
inspired by existing battery manufacturing setups
but need to be optimized for a new chemistry.
Unit economics and customer
relationships

As manufacturing scales, it’s critical for the Zinc-Gel

The company needed to build relationships in the supply chain to
battery to prove competitive unit economics,
ensure viability of producing batteries at scale. They’ve successfully
economic viability and develop customer
done this with leading global suppliers.
relationships for large B2B use cases.

Exploring debt and project finance

Early pilot with a credibility-building partner
The company deployed 50kWh of batteries to replace a generator-set
as their first real-world pilot. The successful pilot in partnership with
Shell enabled both real-world validation and 30% improved
performance for the next version of the battery.
for plant
To prove the viability of a first-of-a-kind solution,
OffGrid needs to set up an assembly line and
manufacturing plant. Project financing and debt will
then be required.

Ankur Capital | Deep Science Tech Report 30

Ankur Capital | Deep Science Tech Report
Electronics
and Photonics 04.
New compute demand and global Some noteworthy deep science tech electronics companies

shifts are driving Indian electronics

deep science
Clear definition of the value chain offers direct problem statements and the roles
startups can play: IP-led innovation is a well-trodden path by semiconductor startups, and
the clear demarcation of various players in the value chain creates a space for these IP-led
startups to create value, leading to acquisitions of design and component startups by large
Growth in number of transistors per microprocessor
semiconductor players.

Interoperability and open source approaches are driving innovation: Whether ORAN
or RISC-V: open source and interoperability trends are reducing the dominance of large
incumbents. This is allowing startups to participate in the value chain with differentiated 10 billion

Transistors per microprocessor

products that form part of these value chains.
1 billion

Moore’s law is slowing down while the demand for computing power is still 100 million
growing exponentially, particularly due to AI adoption. This has necessitated
creative architectural solutions to deliver increased computing power, as well as 10 million

longer-term approaches such as optical compute and interconnects, as well as 1 million

quantum computing. Apart from this demand for high-end compute, there is a
demand for power-efficient compute for AI inferencing at the edge. 100,000

Policy push and government derisking: Global reshoring, the coming online of OSAT 10,000
facilities, Indian government intervention in the form of DLI and C2S grants in the sector
1971 1980 1990 2000 2010 2021
is de-risking early technology development, and enabling venture and strategic
investors to participate in the journey of electronics startups.
The number of transistors per microprocessor has grown exponentially,
We see clear opportunities in upcoming semiconductor fields as well, such as governed by Moore’s law. This rapid scaling has required multiple
compound semiconductors for mobility and telecom applications, secure and low- technological advances and rapidly unlocks new electronics platforms
power cores for embedded systems, and optical interconnect systems for large- and
medium-sized data centers. Image source: Our World in Data

Ankur Capital | Deep Science Tech Report 32

The Data Corner

Despite the sector being nascent in India, the number of follow-on investments overtook the
number of fresh investments after 2019, showing a gradual trend towards later-stage
investment in electronics and semiconductor companies. However, these investments are
small. Average investment size in electronics & photonics has been $1.77M as compared to an
average of $8.2M across the other three technologies considered.

Ascending the value chain as investors increase participation: Indian electronics industry is
Deep science electronics & photonics investments
currently ascending in the semiconductor value chain, graduating from design services to soft
IP cores and further to novel new cores and platforms. Access to capital has driven the type of
product a startup builds: as capital is more readily available, startups can move from services
to soft IP licensing to creating entire SoCs. Design startups which raised seed funding in 2023
have created long-term plans around creating their own chips.

Growth-stage capital will enable the next state of value creation: So far, semiconductor
startups have struggled to create their own chips due to a lack of growth capital. Creating a
new cutting-edge chip requires a significant amount of capital ($10M+) and will require
investor participation and derisking beyond the seed (and soft IP) stage.

Deep science in electronics is driven by AI, telecom and space: In the last five years, deep
science in electronics has been driven by applications in spacetech and telecom, with an
increased focus on AI and chip design in more recent years.

New incubators are supporting startups with tools and connects: Semiconductor
accelerators and CoEs, such as SFAL were set up in India only in the last three years. These
bodies channel government funding to startups, facilitate industry partnerships and also
subsidize access to expensive EDA tools that every semiconductor design company needs.

Unlocking global markets is a long-standing bottleneck: The rapid rate of change in the
computing industry makes it difficult to maintain product differentiation over a long time
frame. The large markets to unlock are global, with key decision makers outside India, resulting
in challenging and long sales cycles.

Ankur Capital | Deep Science Tech Report 33

Saankhya: A first-of-a-kind journey charted
by one of India’s first fabless design
startups
Founded on the idea to capitalize on hardware
and software abstraction
Founding
Saankhya was founded by a multifaceted technical
team: PhDs, experience in the semicon and
electronics space, and a tinkering mindset.
This enabled them to pivot across products built on
the trend of increased abstraction in both hardware
and software in the electronics space. Saankhya was
supported at this stage by angel investors.
Creating a new narrative and ecosystem
The notion of a globally competitive fabless
company in India was created by Saankhya,
which meant that they had to seed the
ecosystem and educate various stakeholders on
their vision and journey, which they knew would
be at least 8 years long.
Ankur Capital | Deep Science Tech Report
Saankhya Labs was founded in 2007 by a multifaceted team in
the semiconductor space. It has created a software-defined radio
platform, offering both chips and entire modular solutions to its
customers across sectors. Saankhya was acquired in 2022 by Tejas
Networks, a leading supplier of wireless networking solutions, at a
valuation far north of $50M.
Development of the SDR platform and early traction Product diversification, sizeable contracts and
for specific products acquisition
IP vision and portfolio expansion
Early product iterations
As the company grew, it retained its tinkering spirit and
Nuanced understanding of the space enabled
has incentivized patent filing across domains, enabling a
Saankhya to experiment and then create a software-
team of just 250 to access many different markets.
defined radio platform with wide applicability.
Relative to other fields, it is even more imperative for a
fabless semiconductor company to grow its IP portfolio to
Platform spin-offs in different markets
keep up with computing and architectural advances.
As the company brought the SDR platform to maturity,
it was able to create separate chips and a unified
platform for different markets - satellites, defense, TV
Relationships with investors, customers,
broadcasting being just some of them.
and partners who understand the space
Post the first few contracts, customer interest and capital
Initial customer engagement fed into each other and led Saankhya into a virtuous growth
cycle including contracts with ISRO and Sinclair Broadcast.
Product development would’ve been accelerated with
earlier customer involvement - however, key decision
makers to enable this were not in India. Acquisition by a telecom co
Early investors Recent trends in 5G deployment and the ORAN alliance
enabled Saankhya to pivot to the telecom space, and then
Financial investors were reluctant to invest in a first-
get acquired by Tejas Networks for its radio expertise,
of-a-kind journey in India, and the company sought
enabling much wider deployment and vindicating the
early support from strategic investors who
deep expertise and experience of Saankhya Labs.
understood the space.
34
Growing set of deep Indian-origin VC Global VC in India Corporate investor

science investors in India

Ankur Capital, Blume Ventures, Lightspeed, Pi Ventures, Axilor, Endiya Partners, Accel, Speciale Invest, Kalaari Capital, HealthQuad, Peak
AI XV, Chiratae Ventures, Eight Roads, GrowX/Merak Ventures, Indian Angel Network

Tiger Global Management, F-Prime Capital, ADB Ventures

Google, Microsoft, Accenture

Ankur Capital, Eight Roads, Accel, Peak XV, LightRock, Chiratae Ventures, Axilor Ventures, Kotak Investment Advisors, Aarin Capital
Biotech
F-Prime Capital, Novo Holdings, Leapfrog Investments, Sofina, True North, Seventure Partners

Alkem Laboratories, Natco Pharma, Biological E, BASF

Ankur Capital, Parampara Capital, PeakXV Surge, Exfinity Venture Partners, Evolute Ventures, GrowX, CIIE, Blue Ashva Capital, Eight Roads,
Advanced Lightspeed India Partners, Capital 2B, Veda VC, pi Ventures
Materials
Celesta Capital, BIG Capital, Beyond Next Ventures

Shell Ventures, HPCL, BASF, Amara Raja Batteries, Petronas Ventures, ONGC

Speciale Invest, Peak XV, GrowX/Merak Ventures, Java Capital, Endiya Partners, Celesta Capital, Inflexor Ventures
Electronics
and Photonics Emerald VC, Celesta Capital

Intel, GM Ventures, Renesas Electronics

Ankur Capital | Deep Science Tech Report 35

Concluding As a venture capital investor, we are keen to invest in
technologies at the inflection point of widespread adoption.
Right now, the entire Indian deep science tech ecosystem

thoughts
is at an inflection point, and we are excited to have a
ringside view of the transformation. Multiple enablers, both
global and India-specific, are coming together to accelerate
the development and adoption of deep science
technologies. Breakthroughs in AI, Biotechnology,
Advanced Materials and Electronics & Photonics are each
poised to unlock multi-billion dollar market opportunities,
and create the foundational technologies to power
progress and provide solutions to the world’s most urgent
problems.

Ankur Capital | Deep Science Tech Report 36

ABOUT THE AUTHORS
AND CONTRIBUTORS
For feedback and questions, please contact
Suraj Nair | suraj@ankurcapital.com
Vishal Katariya | vishal.katariya@ankurcapital.com
We are grateful for the contributions of:
Geetha Manjunath (Niramai), Ezhil Subbian (String
Bio), Tejas Kusurkar (OffGrid Energy Labs) and Parag
Naik (Saankhya Labs).
Authors: Ritu Verma, Vishal Katariya, Suraj Nair
Marketing & Design: Zahin Hussain, Vishwa Patel
Ankur Capital | Deep Science Tech Report
We at Ankur Capital are just one pillar in India’s broader deep
science tech ecosystem. This report wouldn’t have been possible
without the efforts of all the stakeholders involved in building the
ecosystem. We’d like to recognize incubators such as C-CAMP, IIT-M
Incubation Cell, FSID, SINE, Venture Center, Bangalore
Bioinnovation Center, WRCB, INCeNSE, FITT, SIIC, the various
BioNESTs, AICs who nurture the early birds; universities who provide
the infrastructure to build the technologies; ecosystem partners
such as Hello Tomorrow APAC, NASSCOM, BIRAC, GFI India,
BioSpectrum, and Deeptech Community; enablers such as
Entrepreneur First and Rebalance; and industry bodies such as IESA,
FABA and ABLE for their constant encouragement. Last but not the
least, the daring entrepreneurs who are ready to take the leap and
create a lasting impact on the world as we see it.
Thank you.
37