Key Takeaways
- • TDK Ventures founder and president Nicolas Sauvage told Mint that corporate venture capital interest in India is growing, but "I have yet to see a tsunami," indicating the wave of corporate investment has not yet arrived.
- • TDK Ventures has invested in six Indian companies since 2023, starting with Fasal, and now ranks India as its No. 2 country after the US by number of investments.
- • Corporate VCs have grown more active in India over the past 18 months, with Qualcomm launching a dedicated $150 million India fund earlier this year.
- • Indian deeptech funding has reached $2.7 billion so far in 2026 versus $1.7 billion for all of last year, per Tracxn, supported by the government's Research Development and Innovation Fund.
- • TDK Ventures will not launch an India-focused vehicle, arguing it would signal lower investment standards, and plans a seventh Indian investment later this month.
Summary
Corporate venture capital firms, the investment arms of large established companies, are increasingly looking at Indian startups, but the broader rush has not yet begun, according to Nicolas Sauvage, founder and president of TDK Ventures, the venture arm of Japanese electronics manufacturer TDK Corporation. Speaking to Mint, Sauvage said he sees more corporate investors "looking" and "talking about coming in," but has not yet seen a surge in activity.
Activity has picked up over the past 18 months. Qualcomm launched a dedicated $150 million India fund earlier this year, Hitachi Ventures invested in Bengaluru-based Exponent Energy and led a $25 million round in Scimplify, and Sony Innovation Fund made two Indian investments after a lull in 2024 and 2025. Many of these funds target deeptech, a high technology-risk sector that has historically deterred traditional venture investors. According to Tracxn, deeptech funding in India has reached $2.7 billion so far this year, compared with $1.7 billion last year, aided by the government's Research Development and Innovation Fund. Domestic growth investors, who have traditionally avoided the sector, are also now looking at deals.
TDK Ventures targets early-stage companies, typically writing first cheques of $3 million to $5 million into seed or Series A rounds, and sometimes leads follow-on rounds. Sauvage said corporate investors are often most valuable at later stages, when technology risk has declined and companies approach commercial scale: "Their superpower when they come in at that level is they will become that big customer or they will help with go to market or they will help with scaling."
TDK Ventures has invested in six Indian companies: AI-powered horticulture platform Fasal (2023), Exponent Energy, electric bike maker Ultraviolette, semiconductor company C2i Semiconductors, reusable medium-lift launch vehicle EtherealX, and Infinite Uptime, a maintenance solutions provider now based in the US. Infineon Technologies acquired C2i on October 5 in a deal reportedly valued at $100 million to $120 million. A seventh Indian investment is planned for later this month, though the firm declined to name the company. The firm operates an innovation hub in India that hosts other corporate venture funds. Its India focus spans semiconductors, AI infrastructure, robotics, energy transition, digital transformation, and space, including launch vehicles, satellite payloads, downstream data applications and data centres.
Sauvage attributes his optimism mainly to India's growing talent pool, noting that top graduates now stay in the country and join startups rather than large companies or go abroad. Despite its bullishness, TDK Ventures does not plan to launch an India-focused fund, as it believes such a vehicle would signal a willingness to lower its investment standards.
Activity has picked up over the past 18 months. Qualcomm launched a dedicated $150 million India fund earlier this year, Hitachi Ventures invested in Bengaluru-based Exponent Energy and led a $25 million round in Scimplify, and Sony Innovation Fund made two Indian investments after a lull in 2024 and 2025. Many of these funds target deeptech, a high technology-risk sector that has historically deterred traditional venture investors. According to Tracxn, deeptech funding in India has reached $2.7 billion so far this year, compared with $1.7 billion last year, aided by the government's Research Development and Innovation Fund. Domestic growth investors, who have traditionally avoided the sector, are also now looking at deals.
TDK Ventures targets early-stage companies, typically writing first cheques of $3 million to $5 million into seed or Series A rounds, and sometimes leads follow-on rounds. Sauvage said corporate investors are often most valuable at later stages, when technology risk has declined and companies approach commercial scale: "Their superpower when they come in at that level is they will become that big customer or they will help with go to market or they will help with scaling."
TDK Ventures has invested in six Indian companies: AI-powered horticulture platform Fasal (2023), Exponent Energy, electric bike maker Ultraviolette, semiconductor company C2i Semiconductors, reusable medium-lift launch vehicle EtherealX, and Infinite Uptime, a maintenance solutions provider now based in the US. Infineon Technologies acquired C2i on October 5 in a deal reportedly valued at $100 million to $120 million. A seventh Indian investment is planned for later this month, though the firm declined to name the company. The firm operates an innovation hub in India that hosts other corporate venture funds. Its India focus spans semiconductors, AI infrastructure, robotics, energy transition, digital transformation, and space, including launch vehicles, satellite payloads, downstream data applications and data centres.
Sauvage attributes his optimism mainly to India's growing talent pool, noting that top graduates now stay in the country and join startups rather than large companies or go abroad. Despite its bullishness, TDK Ventures does not plan to launch an India-focused fund, as it believes such a vehicle would signal a willingness to lower its investment standards.
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