Reveals the Companies He’s Invested In

The founder of Info Edge, Sanjeev Bikhchandani, recently provided important knowledge about deep tech and AI funding through Twitter posts. His thoughts reveal the obstacles and promising prospects that India encounters in this developing field. In the U.S., companies like OpenAI have raised massive amounts of capital—$58 billion so far—and yet they still require more funding. 

The Struggle to Fund Deep Tech

Bikhchandani points out, “The investors who came in initially were not for profit; people who bankrolled initially were big, deep-pocketed people like Elon Musk, not VC funds.”

Eventually, large companies like Microsoft joined in, but OpenAI’s journey was supported by people with the resources to fund long-term, high-risk projects, not just venture capitalists looking for quick returns.

This same challenge exists in India. Bikhchandani highlights that “even if you say India is cheaper by say 80%, you are talking about the equivalent of open AI being created using $12 billion, which is very expensive.”

Funding for deep tech and AI is daunting, and there’s a limited pool of investors capable of backing these kinds of high-risk, long-term projects.

Who Can Support Deep Tech in India?

Bikhchandani indicates that India’s major companies from both the private and public sectors must take a leading position. He identifies Reliance and Tata as well as Adani and the major IT companies TCS, Infosys, Wipro, and HCL. Public sector players such as ONGC and NTPC could also contribute. The need for funding is clear, but the question is, “Who has the kind of balance sheet to support that?”

He emphasizes that “There are only very few such large balance sheets, whether in the private sector or public sector, that can support this kind of investment in R&D.”

Bridging the Gap 

Bikhchandani emphasizes deep tech’s value for India’s national strategic goals since “Deep tech is important from a national strategic priority perspective that you do need India to progress in science and technology.”

Deep tech investments require commercial viability to satisfy both entrepreneurs and investors, according to him.. The government and private industry must bridge this gap, ensuring that national priorities align with commercial incentives.

This gap is something Info Edge has already been addressing. As Bikhchandani shares, “At Info Edge, we invested in Zomato in 2010 and in Policy Bazaar in 2008. But because we invested from the balance sheet and we didn’t have a fund with a finite life, we are still holding on after 15 years and 17 years.”

Unlike traditional VC funds, Info Edge has invested in deep tech using its own balance sheet, which allowed for a long-term vision.

The Need for Long-Term Investment Horizons

Bikhchandani argues that deep tech and AI require patience. “Deep tech investing needs funds with a much, much longer time horizon for investing, perhaps perpetual capital.” Current funds with a typical 10-12 year time horizon won’t work for deep tech. He suggests that “if there’s going to be a focus on deep tech for allocation, we cannot be investing in funds that have a 10-year or 12-year time horizon. It will possibly have to be a 20-25 year time horizon fund or perhaps an infinite time horizon, open-ended fund.”

This type of long-term funding approach is essential for the success of deep tech and foundational AI companies, especially when their potential is still uncertain.

Info Edge’s Deep Tech Portfolio

Info Edge has already been making strides in the deep tech space, with 18 investments over the last five years in sectors ranging from drug discovery to space technology. Bikhchandani proudly shares, “We have invested in eighteen Deep Tech companies over the past five years. And we continue to invest in one or two more every quarter.”

Some of their notable investments include:

Matter Motors – Battery tech & geared motorbikes

Pantherun – Hardware & software encryption

Leumasware – Manufacturing on demand

Manastu Space – Propulsion systems for in-space

Ahammune BioSciences – Drug candidates for autoimmune disorders

Marbles Health – Mental health & depression

BrainSight AI – Interpreting brain MRIs

ePlaneCo – Electric flying taxi (eVTOL)

Unbox Robotics – Robotics for e-commerce warehouses

RaylOT – Touchless breath monitoring

Skyserve AI – Edge-compute for geospatial data

Venture Capital Funding in India

Bikhchandani maintains a clear view of deep tech development through his statement, “Lage Raho Munnabhai. Acchhey Din Aayengey.” The future holds promising days, according to his words, “Acchhey Din Aayengey” (Good days will come).

The 2024 venture capital (VC) ecosystem in India demonstrated powerful growth through a 43% funding increase that reached $13.7 billion, according to a report. The rise in funding was supported by a 45% boost in transaction volume, which reached 1,270 deals.