Priyank Kharge’s AI capital ambitions; Rebuilding India’s deeptech ecosystem

Hello,

What an action-packed day we had at TechSparks 2025! 

The first day of YourStory’s startup-tech event featured Mukesh Bansal’s cautious approach to AI and its hype, Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge's process for developing startup policies, IndiQube's journey to IPO, and much more! Catch all the action from day 1 here.

YourStory also launched the Tech30 cohort of 30 most promising startups redefining innovation across sectors, including deeptech, AI, climate tech, and healthcare. 

Now on day 2, we have a stellar lineup and even sharper conversations—from the art of authentic storytelling to cutting-edge tech breakthroughs, financial inclusion, the bold strides of deeptech, and more! Join us, won’t you?

Meanwhile, here are some quick updates from the Indian startup ecosystem. 

Ola Electric saw its revenue from operations plummet 43.1% to Rs 690 crore during the three months ended September 30, 2025, as it struggled with a narrowing market share and lower sales. 

Lastly, sources said that Ronnie Screwvala of upGrad has placed a bid to buy SoftBank-backed Unacademy at a valuation of $300 million to $400 million, a steep markdown from its previous valuation of $3.4 billion.

Interesting times ahead in the edtech scene!

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Priyank Kharge’s AI capital ambitions
• Rebuilding India’s deeptech ecosystem
• How India seizes the AI opportunity

Here’s your trivia for today: Which of the Space Shuttle Orbiters NASA built was not capable of spaceflight?

TechSparks

Priyank Kharge’s AI capital ambitions

For Karnataka IT Minister Priyank Kharge, AI isn't merely a buzzword or an economic opportunity; it's a tool for reimagining how the government works.

At TechSparks 2025, during a fireside chat with YourStory Founder and CEO Shradha Sharma, Kharge laid out Karnataka's blueprint to become what he calls the "Deep Tech Capital of Asia." It's an ambitious title, but one backed by both policy and capital.

Deeptech ambitions:

• To ensure the state stays ahead of the curve, Karnataka has formed an advisory committee on emerging technologies, chaired by Kharge and co-chaired by the Department of Skill Development. The committee's mandate spans AI, ML, cybersecurity, and digital forensics.
• The Minister highlighted some of the key policies undertaken by the government to encourage the growth of the startup ecosystem. The Elevate programme, for example, has provided equity-free grants to over 1,000 startups so far.
• The state government now also wants to extend the reach of the startup ecosystem beyond Bengaluru. The Minister said the Rs 1,000 crore local economic acceleration programme aims to set up centres of excellence across different parts of the state.

TechSparks

Rebuilding India’s deeptech ecosystem

Rebuilding a strong deeptech ecosystem is imperative for India’s growth, but the transformation will not happen overnight, according to Mukesh Bansal, Founder and CEO of Nurix AI.

According to Bansal, while India had a head start in building a deeptech ecosystem, priorities began to change along the way. Now, the country is at a critical pivot point in its journey to rebuild its deeptech ecosystem—a phenomenon that he is optimistic about in the long term. 

Innovation frontier:

• All his experiences and the passion to develop a deeptech ecosystem worked well for Bansal when he donned the role of an investor. This especially came into play when he funded the spacetech startup Skyroot in 2018, which became the first private Indian firm to successfully launch a rocket into space.
• According to Bansal, apart from AI and deeptech, two other fields are touted to bring about a remarkable change in people's lives: quantum technology and biological engineering.
• Speaking about fellow entrepreneurs, he revealed that he wants to collaborate with Deepinder Goyal, Founder and CEO of Eternal (formerly Zomato), calling him one of the few entrepreneurs who combine “extreme intensity with extreme ambition.”

TechSparks

How India seizes the AI opportunity

India may not be the first to adopt AI, but when the country gets going, it will become the best, believes Rajan Anandan, Managing Director at Peak XV & Surge.

Furthermore, India’s deeptech ecosystem may be growing fast, but it lags behind global peers due to underinvestment in R&D. Speaking at TechSparks 2025, Anandan warned that while India has the talent, scale, and ambition to compete globally, its spending on research remains far too low to fuel true deeptech innovation.

News & updates

• Intelligence: Microsoft is pursuing a more powerful form of AI called “superintelligence”, it hopes will be capable of making advances in areas like medicine and materials science. Mustafa Suleyman, Chief of the Microsoft AI group, will lead the MAI Superintelligence Team, targeting hypothetical milestones even more ambitious than AGI. 
• Chip: Google is making its most powerful chip yet widely available, in its latest effort to try and win business from AI companies by offering custom silicon. Google said the seventh generation of TPU, called Ironwood, will hit the market for public use in the coming weeks.
• Vote: Tesla shareholders will decide on Thursday whether to pay CEO Elon Musk up to $878 billion, the richest executive pay in history by a long shot. But the high-profile vote is only one of several proposals that could reshape the EV maker's future, from the board's power to whether Tesla should invest in Musk's AI firm xAI.

Which of the Space Shuttle Orbiters NASA built was not capable of spaceflight?

Answer: The Space Shuttle Enterprise (OV-101) was the only one of the six orbiters built by NASA that was not capable of spaceflight. 

We would love to hear from you! To let us know what you liked and disliked about our newsletter, please mail [email protected]. 

If you don’t already get this newsletter in your inbox, sign up here. For past editions of the YourStory Buzz, you can check our Daily Capsule page here.