FROM MADE IN INDIA TO REIMAGINED IN INDIA: ACCELERATING INDUSTRIAL TRANSFORMATION THROUGH STARTUP COLLABORATION

India's innovation landscape is blossoming as the country steadily transitions from a services-focused digital economy to one driven by knowledge, product development, and intellectual property. This transformation is underpinned by a robust startup ecosystem which, in 2024 alone, attracted $7.4 billion in tech funding. Notably, deep-tech startups—spanning AI/ML, IoT, robotics, and clean technologies—secured a 78% year-on-year funding increase, reaching about $1.6 billion. This surge reflects India's growing emphasis on creating indigenous technologies and homegrown intellectual property, vital for its long-term competitiveness.

- AKARSH K. HEBBAR

In this landscape, strategic collaborations between startups and corporates are emerging as a critical force multiplier. Corporates bring scale, domain expertise, and market access; startups inject agility, fresh ideas, and niche technological prowess. Such alliances shorten the journey from lab to large-scale adoption, enabling breakthrough technologies to move swiftly from concept to industrial deployment.

Deep-tech entrepreneurship is at the core of this transformation. With over 3,600 deep-tech startups currently operating, and nearly 500 launched in the year 2023 alone, India is building a formidable pipeline of innovation that addresses complex challenges in resource management, industrial automation, and sustainable development. These startups are critical to advancing the Atmanirbhar Bharat vision by protecting homegrown IP and fuelling a new era of technology-led growth.