Kapil Venkatachalam

This article, co-authored by Vardaan Ahluwalia and me lays out India's significant new Research Development and Innovation Fund initiative in the context of other successful interventions: when governments and the private sector work together, they can make a transformative difference to deep technology entrepreneurship. Equally, initiatives to help manage financial risk should be followed by structural reforms in areas ranging from intellectual property regulation, ease of clearances for start-ups, tax rationalization in capital gains and options that helps start-ups attract talent, and a visa regime that attracts leading global researchers. https://lnkd.in/gk92YSZa

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From our PearX S25 cohort, meet Pravāh, the AI-native operating system for the electric grid When Mohak Mangal, Dhruv Suri, and Aman Gupta looked at the strain on the U.S. electric grid, they saw a system pushed to its limits. Exploding demand and unpredictable supply have made blackouts increasingly common. This costs the economy more than $150B a year, a number that could 10x in the next five years. Mohak Mangal and team founded Pravāh to help fix it. Their platform helps utilities and grid operators make real-time decisions on load, generation, and congestion, reducing blackout risks, optimizing power procurement, and bringing much-needed stability to the backbone of modern life. We’re proud to support the Pravāh team as they take on one of the toughest and most important infrastructure challenges of our time.

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This is an exciting, landmark initiative. Financing and venture-scaling expertise are recognized as constraints for the growth of deep-tech enterprises from India. To address this gap, the Indian Deep Tech Investment Alliance (IDTA), convened by Celesta Capital and other prominent investors, brings U.S. and Indian venture capital firms together to commit their expertise and over $1 billion of capital to start-ups in critical and emerging technologies. The IDTA welcomes similarly committed venture firms and corporations to join in this initiative. Please read the details in the below post.

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It's been quite amazing to see Shaurya Gupta, Chandan Yadav, Divyansh Ameta and team Wishlink create an entirely new category of creator commerce in India. They're building the rails that help brands grow through social platforms like Instagram, while giving creators a convenient way to monetize their audiences. Historically only large brands had access to creators and only large creators had the ability to monetize well. Wishlink is democratising this in a purely performance driven manner, which makes it win-win. Fortunate to be part of this journey since the seed round and really excited to triple down in this round. Welcome aboard Ben Mathias Nikhil Marwaha! Ashish Kumar Sanjeev Aggarwal Vaibhav Chowdhury Elevation Capital

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**Bolna's Impressive Fundraising Highlights Self-Serve Success in India** Bolna's recent $6.3 million funding round led by General Catalyst underscores a significant trend in the Indian tech ecosystem. With 75% of its revenue generated from self-serve customers, Bolna is leveraging the growing demand for voice orchestration solutions. At ElevenX Capital, we see this as a strong indicator of how businesses are increasingly prioritizing scalable, user-driven tools. How can venture capitalists better assess the potential of self-serve revenue models in the future? #investing #innovation #venturecapital #entrepreneurship

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What a joy to speak with this brilliant cohort of innovators in the The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) ENTICE (Energy Transitions Innovation Challenge) 2.0 program and taking on their sharp questions at the investor bootcamp. 80% of global GHG emission reduction goals for 2050 can be met through energy system decarbonization, efficiency and electrification. This represents a US $100 trillion opportunity according to the IEA.     A stronger, more stable grid is at the heart of building a #resilient #energy future. This year’s program challenges innovators to tackle:  1) Behind-the-meter digital twins: #AI tools to analyse consumption and create appliance-level insights  2) Industrial flexibility at scale: AI solutions using smart meter data to identify flexible assets and operational inefficiencies    Kudos to the entrepreneurs and the GEAPP team for curating and executing such a thoughtful program.     Looking forward to seeing how these #innovations scale #impact.  Synapses Dalberg Media Vaishali (Vish) Mishra Anukul Tripathi (He/Him) Jayant Sinha Saurabh Kumar

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Numeric is transforming the role of the modern finance professional, from a passenger who observes the business to a driver who engineers business outcomes. Super excited to share that IVP is leading the company’s Series B; deepening our partnership as Numeric expands from close management into a connected finance platform — unifying close, analytics, and now cash management. Their new cash management product tackles one of the most painful workflows in accounting. Where legacy tools automate less than 30% of transactions, Numeric achieves 90%+, saving teams days of manual work every month. As a former CFO, I’ve felt the pain of disconnected systems and manual reconciliations firsthand. Numeric is redefining what modern finance looks like: connected, intelligent, and built for real-time decision-making. We’re backing Parker Gilbert and his team as they bring clarity and connection to the heart of finance. More from Ryan Lawler at Axios: https://lnkd.in/gARRsj24 

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🚀Initiation of Coverage Agility Robotics 🚀 We’ve initiated coverage on Agility Robotics for IPO CLUB’s flagship fund, America2030, within the robotics sector covered by me, with the help of Helen Zhou. Headquartered in Corvallis, Oregon, the company builds bipedal humanoid robots designed to operate in human-centric environments. Its mission is to solve labor shortages and automate dull, dirty, and dangerous tasks across logistics and manufacturing. 🔍Why we like Agility Robotics Commercial first-mover advantage: Achieved the industry’s first revenue-generating humanoid deployment with GXO Logistics, Inc., proving real-world value while competitors remain in pilot mode. Differentiated biomimetic technology: The Digit platform uses dynamic bipedal locomotion, passive dynamics, and a unique backward-leg design for efficient, human-like mobility across stairs, cables, and uneven terrain. Manufacturing scale readiness: The RoboFab facility in Salem— the world’s first dedicated humanoid robot factory—gives Agility a production runway toward 10,000 units/year, a 12–18 month lead over peers. 💡Notable Investors DCVC, Playground Global, WP Global Partners, Amazon, Schaeffler,Sony, SoftBank Investment Advisers, MFV Partners, TDK Ventures ⚔️ Competitive Landscape Primary competitors include Figure, Tesla, Apptronik, Boston Boston Dynamics, and Sanctuary AI. Agility differentiates through logistics-first commercialization, proven deployments, and factory-scale readiness, while others emphasize demos, internal R&D, or general-purpose manipulation capabilities. 🌍 With hundreds of robots planned for production in 2025 and RoboFab scaling toward 10,000 units annually, Agility is emerging as one of the most commercially advanced humanoid companies globally. By focusing on brownfield automation and real-world logistics workflows, it is building the backbone of next-generation warehouse automation and mobile manipulation. #Robotics #Automation #Humanoids #LogisticsTech #DeepTech #VentureCapital #America2030

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