0:00 Seventy-four percent of India's deep-tech startups are now using AI or machine learning.0:05 That data just dropped from Nasscom yesterday.0:08 Last week on the show, we talked about the big bets and the deeptech funding boom, but this...0:14 this shows it's not just a boom.0:16 It's a fundamental rewiring of what's being built.0:19 And the money is following.0:21 ChipAgents, an AI infrastructure startup, just reportedly raised sixty million dollars.0:26 Pinegap closed an eight million dollar Series A led by Stellaris Venture Partners.0:31 Then you have Mitti Labs, a climate tech startup, pulling in capital from a wild mix of investors: Aramco's venture arm, the Godrej Industries Group, and the Cisco Foundation.0:43 And it's not just startups.0:44 Larsen & Toubro's corporate venture fund, the L&T Innovation Fund, just announced it's stepping up its own bets in Indian deeptech.0:53 So you're seeing money pour in from every direction — venture capital, corporate funds, even global energy giants.1:00 But here’s the real story, the one that’s not in the headlines.1:04 It’s not just the amount of money that’s changing, it’s the kind of money.1:08 Okay, so for years, the startup game in India was pretty straightforward.1:13 A venture capital fund gives you money, you chase growth at all costs, and you try to find an exit in five to seven years.1:21 That was the model.1:22 That model is now being challenged by a totally different kind of investor.1:27 Think about who's writing the checks for these new deals.1:30 It’s not just the usual VCs anymore.1:33 You've got family offices, these massive pools of private wealth, who are now backing AI, spacetech, and semiconductor startups.1:41 They're offering what's called 'patient capital'.1:44 They don't need a quick flip.1:46 They can wait a decade or more, because they're not just investing in a company; they're investing in a foundational technology.1:54 And you see it with the corporate funds, too.1:57 When a company like Larsen & Toubro, a giant in engineering and construction, starts a deeptech fund, they're not looking for the next photo-sharing app.2:06 They're looking for technologies that will become critical to their own future, and to the country's.2:13 One VC firm, Vertex Ventures, even has a name for it.2:16 They're calling it SOVEREIGN technology.2:18 Semiconductors, robotics, defense tech, climate solutions.2:22 The things a nation needs to secure its own future.2:25 And that brings us back to that seventy-four percent number.2:29 The reason so many new companies are built on AI and machine learning is because that's what this new class of capital wants to fund.2:38 They're not chasing fleeting consumer trends.2:40 They're chasing things that are difficult, things that have a high barrier to entry, things that create real, tangible assets.2:48 Look at Mitti Labs.2:50 They're not building a simple app for farmers.2:52 They've built a GeoAI platform that uses satellite radar and ground data to help farmers adopt water-efficient rice cultivation.3:01 This is about water security and food supply, using cutting-edge A-I to solve a centuries-old problem.3:07 That’s why you see a strategic investor like Aramco getting involved.3:11 This is about resources, not just revenue.3:14 So when you see a headline about a sixty-million-dollar raise for a chip company, or eight million for a company like Pinegap, the number is only half the story.3:24 The other half is that the very definition of a valuable startup in India is changing right now.3:30 It's shifting from companies that are good at acquiring users to companies that are good at solving incredibly hard, physical-world problems.3:39 This isn't about the next billion-user app.3:42 This is about semiconductors, and food supply, and national infrastructure.3:47 The money isn't just betting on startups anymore.3:50 It's investing in the STACK.
