Introduction:
Bengaluru-based Yali Capital has announced the launch of its maiden venture fund, targeting a corpus of Rs 810 crore to support early-stage deeptech startups in India. This move signals a significant boost for the country’s growing technology sector, particularly in advanced fields such as chip design, robotics, and artificial intelligence.
The fund, co-founded by industry veterans Ganapathy Subramaniam and Mathew Cyriac, includes a substantial greenshoe option of Rs 310 crore, demonstrating confidence in the potential of India’s deeptech landscape. With a primary focus on chip design and expanding into other cutting-edge sectors, Yali Capital is positioned to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of technology innovation in India.
Ganapathy Subramaniam, Founding Managing Partner of Yali Capital and former CEO of Cosmic Circuits, emphasized India’s inherent strength in deeptech. “As a country, we have 40 years of high-quality chip design experience. India is also very strong in robotics and is now gaining ground in genomics, smart manufacturing, and other advanced fields,” Subramaniam stated during the fund’s launch event in Bengaluru.
The fund’s investment strategy targets innovative areas that form the backbone of next-generation technologies. Besides chip design, Yali Capital plans to invest in startups working on robotics, genomics, smart manufacturing, aerospace, and artificial intelligence. This broad focus reflects the fund’s commitment to nurturing a diverse and robust deeptech ecosystem in India.
Mathew Cyriac, Founding General Partner of Yali Capital and Executive Chairman of Florintree, highlighted the strong opportunities in homegrown deeptech companies. “Sectors such as aerospace, imaging, instrumentation, and several other emerging areas show great promise,” Cyriac noted. His experience in taking deeptech companies public, including MTAR, Data Patterns, and ideaForge, adds valuable expertise to the fund’s management team.
One of the key strengths of Yali Capital is its network of limited partners, which includes top tech executives from both India and the United States. This collective experience and global perspective are expected to provide a strong foundation for the deeptech companies in the fund’s portfolio.
The fund has already made significant strides, approving investments in four deeptech startups. Yali Capital expects to complete these investments by the third quarter of 2024, showcasing the fund’s commitment to rapid deployment of capital in promising ventures.
Adding further credibility to Yali Capital’s mission is the involvement of Lip-Bu Tan as an advisor. Tan, the former CEO of Cadence Design Systems, is renowned for achieving a 78-times shareholder return during his tenure. His experience in backing over 130 deeptech companies that have gone public globally brings invaluable insights to Yali Capital’s strategy.
Tan expressed his enthusiasm for India’s deeptech potential, stating, “Indians have been very strong in deeptech due to a strong emphasis on STEM in their education system. I have backed many deeptech companies led by Indian-origin CEOs in the USA, and I’m keen to work with Yali Capital to help create globally recognized deeptech companies from India.”
The launch of Yali Capital’s fund comes at a crucial time for India’s technology sector. As the country continues to establish itself as a global tech hub, there’s growing recognition of the need to support deeptech innovations that can compete on a world stage. The fund’s focus on areas like chip design is particularly significant, given the global semiconductor shortage and the increasing importance of domestic chip manufacturing capabilities.
For the Indian startup ecosystem, Yali Capital’s fund represents more than just financial support. It signifies a vote of confidence in the country’s ability to produce world-class deeptech innovations. The fund’s emphasis on early-stage startups could help bridge the critical funding gap that often exists for deeptech ventures, which typically require more capital and longer development cycles than traditional software startups.
Moreover, the involvement of experienced industry leaders like Subramaniam, Cyriac, and Tan could provide startups with invaluable mentorship and access to global networks. This combination of capital and expertise could be instrumental in helping Indian deeptech startups scale beyond domestic markets and compete globally.
The implications of this fund extend beyond the startups it will directly invest in. By focusing on foundational technologies like chip design, robotics, and AI, Yali Capital could help catalyze innovation across multiple sectors of the Indian economy. Success in these areas could have far-reaching effects, potentially boosting India’s technological self-reliance and competitiveness in global markets.
Conclusion:
The launch of Yali Capital’s Rs 810 crore deeptech venture fund marks a significant milestone for India’s technology sector. With its focus on critical areas like chip design and AI, backed by a team of experienced industry veterans, the fund is well-positioned to play a transformative role in India’s deeptech landscape. As the fund begins to make its investments, all eyes will be on the innovative startups it supports and the potential breakthroughs they might achieve. For India’s aspiring deeptech entrepreneurs, Yali Capital’s initiative represents not just a new source of funding, but a vote of confidence in their ability to create world-class technologies that can compete on the global stage.
