Government, 16 venture capitals to offer over Rs 1000 cr for deep tech, AI startup: Priyank Kharge

At a session held as part of the 28th edition of the Bengaluru Tech Summit 2025, Priyank Kharge stressed on the need to create solid skills and CoEs to encourage talent.

Bengaluru: IT-BT Minister Priyank Kharge on Tuesday said that as many as 16 venture capital funds will collectively allocate Rs 430 crore to deep tech and Artificial Intelligence (AI) startups. “The government is investing about Rs 663 crore, and so collectively there will be a joint fund exceeding Rs 1,000 crore,” he added.

At the Future Makers Conclave to be held during the 28th edition of the Bengaluru Tech Summit 2025 on Thursday, the government will allocate funds to startups.

“At the Future Makers Conclave, 143 winners under the ‘Elevate’ startup programme will be announced and the minimum fund size will begin from Rs 2 crore, and go up to Rs 45 crore,” he said.

Earlier, the minister said the Rs 600-crore fund also includes Rs 75 crore through the KITVEN fund for equity-based investments in deep tech and AI startups, with funding between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 2 crore.

The government also plans to establish six Centres of Excellence (CoEs) across state clusters, with a budget outlay of Rs 90 crore to drive R&D, talent development, and industry-academia collaboration in sectors like software, biotech, deftronics, semiconductors, quantum, AI/ML, robotics, blockchain and space tech, the minister said.

At a session held as part of the 28th edition of the Bengaluru Tech Summit 2025, the minister stressed on the need to create solid skills and CoEs to encourage talent.

Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan said when it comes to talent, India has the largest talent base. “The country should focus on product-led growth,” he said, adding that IT professionals need to think about collaborating across the value-chain startups and research ecosystem.

Deep domain areas

Gopalakrishnan said jobs would continue to evolve, and “we have to make sure that we stay relevant”.

Highlighting the rise of spacetech startups and autonomous systems in defence, Accel India Founding Partner Prashanth Prakash said, “Just like 10-minute deliveries, we need to build similar capabilities in deep domain areas.”