Startup India Deep Tech Challenge names 12 finalists across five technology sectors
The Startup India Deep Tech Challenge 2025-26 has shortlisted 12 finalists across five technology sectors, with winners set to receive grants, mentorship, industry pilots and funding access.
Avaana Capital is a deep-tech venture capital firm. DPIIT refers to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade.
This year’s Grand Challenge drew more than 800 applications. Following a multi-stage evaluation, 12 finalists have been shortlisted. They will pitch their innovations before the Grand Jury on August 27.
Meet The Finalists
The 12 finalists span Energy & Mobility, Supply Chains & Advanced Manufacturing, Biotech & Advanced Materials, AI & Automation, and Space Technologies.
- ABX3 PV is developing lightweight, high-efficiency perovskite solar modules and perovskite-silicon tandems for use in space, mobility and flexible applications.
- CTRL+Z Energies is building non-flammable, fast-charging zinc-ion batteries using nanocarbon hybrid cathodes and aqueous electrolytes as an alternative to lithium-ion.
- Beyond Renewables applies thermal and hydrometallurgical processes to recover materials from solar panels that have reached the end of their life.
- Maapan Labs creates 4D spatial digital twins for asset tracking inside aerospace facilities.
- ThinkMetal combines debinding and sintering into a single thermal cycle to speed up metal additive manufacturing.
- BioLOCKEY Healthworks uses generative AI to design heat-stable nanobodies for point-of-care cervical cancer screening.
- SenseHealth has built edge-AI fingertip wearables that carry out rapid, non-invasive checks on multiple vital signs.
- Paar Autonomy is developing onboard AI that gives unmanned systems visual reasoning and autonomous navigation.
- PlasmaZen combines cold atmospheric plasma with sensing technology for real-time, non-destructive quality checks in manufacturing.
- Nirixense Technologies uses edge-AI scanners and wireless sensor networks to monitor structural health continuously.
- Pramatra Space applies photonics to enable satellite-based quantum key distribution and quantum-safe communication.
- Reeyam Engineering and Technology builds High-Altitude Platform Station UAVs powered by multiple energy sources for long-duration stratospheric coverage.
Who’s On The Jury
The Grand Jury comprises members drawn from policy, industry, academia and capital.
They are: S Ramann, Chairperson of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) and former CMD of SIDBI; Ateesh Kumar Singh, Additional Secretary at DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce and Industry; Sarah Cooper, Director for Climate, Development, Science and Technology at the UK’s FCDO; Dr Dhananjay Tiwary, Managing Director of BIRAC; Amit Chandra, Managing Director and Chairman for India at Bain Capital; and Gopal Srinivasan, Chairman and Managing Director of TVS Capital Funds.
Also on the panel are Hisashi Takeuchi, Managing Director and CEO of Maruti Suzuki India; Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman of Network18 Media & Investments Ltd, Chairman of the Capacity Building Commission of India, and Board Chair of IIT Ropar and IIT Goa; and B Santhanam, former CEO of Saint-Gobain APAC & India, Independent Director at Tata Electronics and Larsen & Toubro, and Board Chair of Titan Engineering and Automation.
The list also includes V Vaidyanathan, Managing Director and CEO of IDFC FIRST Bank; Derek M Shah, CEO and Managing Director of Larsen & Toubro Energy GreenTech; Rajesh Gopinathan, former CEO of TCS; and Tarun Mehta, Co-Founder and CEO of Ather Energy.
Rounding off the jury are Kirthiga Reddy, Co-Founder and CEO of OptimizeGEO; Dr Chintan Vaishnav, Academic Director of the Tata Centre at MIT and former Mission Director of the Atal Innovation Mission; and Nat Malupillai, Group CEO of IIT Madras Research Park.
Ateesh Kumar Singh said building indigenous deep tech capability across critical sectors is central to India’s Viksit Bharat 2047 vision. He added that the Grand Challenge links entrepreneurs working on frontier technologies with policy, industry, academia and capital, helping India move towards becoming a global deep tech hub.
Anjali Bansal, Partner at Avaana Capital, said the Grand Challenge builds the pathways needed to move innovation from discovery to commercial deployment.
She added that the scale and range of this year’s applicants reaffirm the calibre of deep tech being developed in India. Avaana, she said, will back finalists with jury feedback, industry partnerships, monetary awards and ecosystem access.
Winners of the Grand Challenge receive equity-free monetary awards, mentorship, industry pilot opportunities and access to follow-on funding. This is aimed at helping them move from validating their technology to deploying it commercially.
Previous editions of the Grand Challenge have enabled close to ₹2.5 crore in grants. The 2025-26 edition will conclude on 11 September at Vanijya Bhavan, Delhi.
Original source: https://www.cnbctv18.com/technology/
