Chiratae Ventures announces DeepTech Innovators Program to help DeepTech startups scale-up

As leaders, risk-takers and supporters of the startup ecosystem, Chiratae Ventures has been exploring unchartered terrains since 2006. Formerly known as IDG Ventures, India’s leading technology Venture Capital funds advisor has backed some of the biggest technology startups in India such as Myntra, FirstCry, Lenskart, Manthan, Flipkart, and Cure.Fit, among others. Over the years, funds advised by Chiratae Ventures have invested in 80+ companies across consumer media and tech, cloud/software, healthtech and fintech sectors, out of which 25 percent have gone global. The founders’ fundraising philosophy includes the entrepreneur being a stellar one, with the ability to become a huge brand and to go global.

As India moves from services to products to innovation to a DeepTech economy, Chiratae Ventures is on a mission to explore trends in the space and identify where opportunities can be created. First-time entrepreneurs, especially, have their own set of challenges that they need to brave on their own. Chiratae Ventures is looking to identify and support entrepreneurs who are motivated to bring about a sustained positive impact by leveraging deep technology. Over the last few years, the firm has nurtured and helped grow a number of DeepTech startups, including Axio Biosolutions - MedTech to revolutionise bleeding control and wound healing, SigTuple - intelligent screening solutions to aid diagnosis through AI-powered analysis of visual medical data, PlayShifu – AR-based interactive learning toys for kids, Zumutor Biologics - a leading immuno-oncology company in the space of targeted NK cell therapeutics and Emotix – makers of Miko, an educational companion bot.

On the path to enable DeepTech entrepreneurs

As part of the objective towards enabling DeepTech startups, Chiratae Ventures has launched the DeepTech Innovators Program, a two-day immersive event to provide startups in the DeepTech space access to an ecosystem of experts and successful entrepreneurs.

Speaking about the launch, Sudhir Sethi, Chairman and Founder of Chiratae Ventures, said, “As investors, we need to reinvent in order to steer India into its next growth phase. We are witnessing a boom in innovation in the country and we at Chiratae want to be a catalyst for this transformation by supporting entrepreneurship. Through this DeepTech Innovators Program, we aim to bridge the gap that early-stage startups are facing in terms of accessibility to talent, mentorship and capital. We, therefore, urge all aspiring entrepreneurs to sign-up and be a part of our long-term tech innovation journey.”

During the two-day event, startups can partner with key influencers in the ecosystem, including DeepTech experts and industry evangelists who will provide them with expert advice and opportunities to scale their business.

Who can apply?

Seed and early-stage companies focused on solving real-world problems through deep technology across the below-mentioned sectors can apply:

• Robotics – Consumer, Industrial, and Humanoids
• Horizontal Tech – Nanotechnology, AI, NLP, AR/VR, IoT, Cloud & Quantum Computing, 3D Printing, Blockchain, and Material science
• Aerospace & Outer Space – Autonomous, Drones, Civil multi-use Rockets/Platforms, Urban Aerial mobility, and Satellite Technology
• Health Tech & Medical Devices – Disability Tech, Intelligent/Artificial Prosthetics, and Medical Robotics
• Agriculture & Food Tech – Crop Productivity, Alternative Foods, Marketplaces, Farm to Fork Tech and Supply Chain
• Automotive – EVs, Self-Driving/Autonomous Vehicles and Mobility Tech
• Biotechnology & Life Sciences
• Energy – New/Alternate Energy, EV, and Batteries

The criteria for selection will be solidity of the idea, founders’ profile, ability to scale and global relevance.

What's in it for entrepreneurs?

The Program fosters a network-led and collaborative approach by providing selected entrepreneurs with the following benefits:

• 2x accelerated investment process
• AMA with experts who have scaled businesses across different sub-sectors
• Sessions on entrepreneurship must-knows - how to build great products, how to go global, etc.
• Market access with POC opportunity and feedback
• Quality resources for R&D

That’s not all. Selected entrepreneurs also have an opportunity to get access to seed-stage capital. Also, leading corporate brands are partnering with Chiratae to share their deep tech knowledge and provide access to markets.

AWS is a key collaborator for the Innovators Program by Chiratae, and will provide entrepreneurial support to startups through perks and discount offers from key solution providers in the areas of marketing, HR, chatbots and cloud credits, among others. This will help startups be cost-effective and efficient in their early days of scaleup.

Participate and scale your business

Applications for the first batch of the DeepTech Innovators Program are open from March 2, 2020 and close on March 15, 2020 on a first-come-first-serve basis.

Applications for the second batch close on March 30, 2020.

Twenty shortlisted startups will be announced by April 3, 2020 and will be invited to participate in the Program, which will take place on April 6-7, 2020 in Bengaluru.

Click here to check eligibility and sign up for the Program.