India Tech Report: India Tech Report

Pardeep Garg on heat pumps as the next big engine for India’s net zero effort

Hari Arakali — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 11:49:30 GMT

In this episode, I’m joined by Pardeep Garg, co-founder and CEO of CRID India — Centre for Research and Implementation for Decarbonization.

With a background spanning IISc in Bengaluru, MIT in the US, and multiple climate-tech startups, Pardeep is uniquely positioned at the intersection of technical research and real-world execution.

CRID India identifies itself as a think tank and implementation agency, focusing on “hard-to-abate” sectors in industry, and agriculture, where Pardeep points out that even though there exist well-understood technologies that are more energy efficient and therefore emission reducing, their adoption has not taken off, because of the initial costs involved, lack of awareness and so on.

In this episode, he discusses examples, such as heat pumps, which he says could be India's next big success story, comparable to solar energy, and details his team's work in building the nation's first industrial heat map.

More efficient motors of IE 4 or IE 5 (international energy efficiency) rating are another example, as is drip irrigation.

We also discuss CRID India’s aim of becoming a “systems integrator” for energy transition in the country, where solving for climate change requires aligning policy, finance, and stakeholder interests beyond just engineering.

Mredul Sarda’s journey from student satellite to deep tech investor to cybersecurity entrepreneur

Hari Arakali — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT

In this episode, I’m joined by Mredul Sarda, an operator-investor in early-stage deep tech and now a cybersecurity entrepreneur.

Mredul’s experience-packed journey began at IIT Bombay, where he earned a BTech in electrical engineering, and an MTech in deep learning. While at the institute, he was also a member of the team that designed and launched Pratham, widely thought of as India’s first student-led satellite.

After a stint in strategy consulting, his tryst with Indian startups started not with deep tech but via a vital role at the fintech company Slice, where he played an important role in scaling the venture to unicorn valuation.

Mredul, who was already an angel investor, co-founded Riceberg Ventures with Ankit Anand, Lino Gandola, and Shubham Raj. The firm launched its flagship $20 million Riceberg Ventures Premier Fund I in early 2024 to back global pre-seed deep tech ventures. Even as they expand Riceberg into Silicon Valley, Mredul and Shubham have also kicked off their own entrepreneurial venture in the area of AI-led cybersecurity, with their startup Causal Security.

Causal Security offers an AI-based platform building autonomous “AI hackers” to surface and defend vulnerabilities in enterprise infrastructure. Join us as to get a glimpse into Mredul’s vision for India’s sovereign technical capabilities and his own evolution from operator to investor to investor-entrepreneur.

Chapters:
(03:21) Early engineering roots and the IIT Bombay student satellite project

(06:05) Transitioning from strategy consulting to the hyper-growth ride at Slice

(09:23) The inception of Riceberg Ventures and backing "obsessed" founders

(14:08) Navigating deep tech sectors from biotech to nuclear energy,

(16:40) Launching Causal Security to address global AI-led cyber threats

(25:27) Automating security reviews with context graphs and AI harnesses

(43:44) Scaling Riceberg Ventures into the United States market

(44:57) Developing sovereign technical capabilities for the India AI stack

20 million Ranchos: Prof. Ashok Jhunjhunwala’s vision for achieving tech sovereignty for India

Hari Arakali — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:30:00 GMT

In this episode, I’m are joined by Professor Ashok Jhunjhunwala, a doyen among India’s champions of technology-led innovation for the masses, to discuss his latest moonshot venture: the ITEL Foundation (Immersive Technology and Entrepreneurship Labs).

After decades of bridging academia and industry at the IIT Madras Research Park, over the last two years, Professor Jhunjhunwala has been chairing this ambitious industry consortium-led initiative to transform India into a global “product nation.”

We dive into ITEL’s unique model of forming scientific consortiums and nurturing young “Ranchos” to solve India’s most infrastructure problems – such as the need for affordable and reliable rapid mass transport, for example. Eliminating waterlogging in our cities after rains and floods, and slashing chemical fertilizer dependency in agriculture are other examples.

Join us as Professor Jhunjhunwala, who turned 73 last week, explains why achieving true technological sovereignty requires 20 million entrepreneurs who view failure as a mere stepping stone to success, a critical badge of experience. Discover how ITEL is building the future of Indian innovation, one impossible challenge at a time.

Chapters

(01:19) The birth of ITEL and the vision for a product nation: Professor Jhunjhunwala discusses the founding of the Immersive Technology and Entrepreneurship Lab (ITEL) and its goal to transform India into a global leader in technology.

(05:48) Leveraging scientific consortiums and nurturing young “Ranchos”: The strategy for ITEL involves bringing together India's top scientists from across the country and providing intense mentorship to young, talented engineers.

(08:40) Solving impossible problems from urban transport to waterlogging: Professor Jhunjhunwala outlines the "impossible" challenges ITEL is tackling, including reducing long commutes to 20 minutes and freeing cities from waterlogging.

(17:33) Navigating the three layers of funding for deep tech: The conversation details the specific roles of grants, government funds, and venture capital in supporting high-risk, high-impact innovations.

(25:33) Why India needs 20 million entrepreneurs to achieve sovereignty: Drawing inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi, the Professor argues that true technological sovereignty requires a massive scale of grassroots entrepreneurship.

(36:36) Challenging large Indian conglomerates to lead global innovation: Professor Jhunjhunwala critiques the reliance of large companies on imported technology and urges them to acquire and scale Indian deep tech startups.

(38:58) Embracing failure as a critical component of learning and growth: Using the analogy of a child learning to walk, he explains why incubators must allow entrepreneurs the freedom to fail and fall in order to eventually succeed.

(45:25) The roots of service: how childhood values shape leadership: The Professor reflects on how his teachers and Hindi poetry instilled the desire to serve society rather than seeking fame or money.

Coming up: Prof. Ashok Jhunjhunwala on ITEL and his next moonshots

Hari Arakali — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 11:33:23 GMT

Earlier this week, Professor Ashok Jhunjhunwala, who built the IIT Madras Research Park, among many other things, turned 73. The architect of India's technology-led affordable innovation is already steeped in his next set of moonshots, whose scope and ambition is Bharat-scale.
And earlier this month, Roots and Wings, his authorised biography, was also released, a required-read for anyone interested in the story of technology in India, written by Saloni Malhotra.
Padma Shri Jhunjhunwala, doyen among the architects of India's technology-led affordable innovation, isn't taking a breather. He is already steeped in his next set of moonshots, whose scope and ambition is Bharat-scale.
I got a chance to catch up with him to talk about some of these projects, which are in early stage at the Immersive Technology and Entrepreneurship Lab (ITEL), an industry-consortium-led effort to tackle some of India's most entrenched problems.
Prof. Jhunjhunwala became Chairman of ITEL after stepping back from the research park two years ago.
Catch the full conversation on Tuesday, June 30, 6 a.m. IST.
Here's a quick preview.

Why Indian deep tech needs corporate R&D and M&A, Vinod Shankar explains

Hari Arakali — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 06:58:00 GMT

In my recent conversation with Vinod Shankar, founding partner at Java Capital, we discussed his note on how India could unlock a massive pool of capital and invest a trillion dollars in deep tech startups.
Here's a viewpoint on one of the topics, how corporate R&D and M&A play an important role in the growth of deep tech startups in the advanced economies. And how that's been missing in India, so far.

10 pct challenge: Vinod Shankar at Java Capital on how India can put $1 trillion in deep tech

Hari Arakali — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 00:30:00 GMT

In today’s episode of Conversations, I’m joined by Vinod Shankar, co-founder of Java Capital, a venture capital firm that has carved a unique niche by focusing on deep tech and climate technology. Vinod’s journey is as specialized as his investments, moving from writing assembly code for mobile processors to leading a fund that backs moonshots in aerospace, silicon photonics, and advanced manufacturing.

Vinod recently ignited a lively debate in the startup ecosystem with his provocative essay, titled “I Want India to Win. Just Not With My Money.” He argues that India’s path to becoming a developed nation is being hindered by “sedimented” wealth. For example, consider one data point he highlights: while India’s wealthiest 1 percent control some $11.6 trillion, nearly 60 percent of those assets are frozen in real estate and gold.

In other words, not funding the future, he says. He also critiques India’s largest corporations for being “structurally allergic” to R&D risk, noting that global giants such as NVIDIA outspend the entire Indian corporate sector in a single quarter.

In this conversation we also talk about Java Capital’s next fund, their third, targeting Rs. 400 crore with a first close coming up, their “stacking” investment strategy, and Vinod’s urgent call for India’s ultra rich investors to allocate 10 percent of their net worth to domestic deep tech to secure the future of the nation’s technological sovereignty.

Chapters

(01:32) Introduction: Vinod Shankar and the “I Want India to Win” Essay

(04:01) The Evolution of Java Capital: From Generalist to Deep Tech Specialist

(06:56) A Unique Career Path: From Assembly Code to Venture Capital

(09:34) The “Stacking” Investment Model: Connecting Portfolio Dots

(13:06) Addressing the “Sediment” Wealth Problem in India

(18:37) The Corporate R&D Crisis and the Need for a Virtuous Cycle

(26:41) Sovereignty and the Funding Gap: Domestic vs. Foreign Capital

(43:24) Java Capital’s Fund III: Moonshots and the Future of Indian Innovation

Coming up: Vinod Shankar at Java Capital challenges India's ultra rich to back deep innovation

Hari Arakali — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 05:38:59 GMT

Coming up in the next episode of Conversations at India Tech Report, Vinod Shankar, founding managing partner at Java Capital, discusses a note he wrote recently, calling on India's ultra rich to back deep innovation in the country with just 10 percent of their money.
They can afford this, and he does so with his own money, Vinod says. The result of this collective effort, if it happens, could be the transformation of India's science and engineering innovation landscape, he argues.
Catch the full interview right here on Tuesday, June 23 at 6 a.m. IST. Here's a 90 second preview.

Custom silicon: Ramamurthy Sivakumar at HrdWyr on the opportunity to build from India for the world

Hari Arakali — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 00:30:00 GMT

In today’s episode, Ramamurthy Sivakumar, co-founder and CEO at HrdWyr, a semiconductor design startup in Bengaluru, talks about the company’s plans after recently raising $13 million in Series A funding, in an investment led by Ideaspring Capital.
The company was co-founded in 2023 by Siva and Ganesh Guruswamy, both industry veterans spanning companies including Intel, AMD, Sandisk and Motorola.
In this conversation, Siva talks about how the era of custom silicon is upon us and what the AI-led opportunity represents. The company specialises in System-on-Chip (AISoC) designs tailored for edge computing and applications like electric vehicles and industrial equipment.
HrdWyr’s first product, named Indus 1011, is expected to hit the market by the end of this year, Siva says. In August last year, the company had announced it had picked Tata Electronics as the packaging partner and also that Indian consumer electronics company boAt would be an anchor customer for the chip — a small, but historic milestone for India's semiconductor aspirations.
boAt is to use this chip, which offers power management as a core feature, in its truly wireless earbuds charging case.
As many of you know, startups such as HrdWyr are getting funded in the time of a broader national push in India for semiconductor self-reliance, supported by significant government investment. Siva notes, however, that significant challenges remain, such as the lack of timely and adequate funding at critical stages.
Still, he thinks that the only way forward is to look at the aggregate of all the ongoing efforts — from startups such as HrdWyr to conglomerates like Tata setting up foundries and OSATs — as an opportunity to tap a trillion-dollar sector, and, as a nation building mission.

Chapters

(00:00) The shift toward custom silicon and new high-volume markets

(03:37) The genesis of HrdWyr and identifying a generational shift in AI

(09:02) From bits to atoms: transitioning from cyber AI to physical AI

(12:54) Designing AI-first architectures for the intelligent edge

(21:45) Executing the product roadmap with strategic anchor customers

(30:23) Building a world-class semiconductor engineering team in India

(35:21) India’s strategic role in the global $1 trillion semiconductor market

(43:46) The 15-year vision for maturing the Indian deep-tech ecosystem

Coming up: Ramamurthy Sivakumar at HrdWyr on the implications of building chips from India

Hari Arakali — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 04:33:39 GMT

In August last year, a little known semiconductor startup (at the time) founded by two industry veterans from India, announced a small, but historic milestone. Not just for themselves, but the country. The startup, HrdWyr Ventures, now more popularly, just HrdWyr, had struck two partnerships, one with Tata Electronics for the packaging of its first chip, and the other with boAt, the consumer electronics company, as an anchor customer for the new processor.
boAt would use their chip, named Indus 1011, in its truly wireless stereo earbuds charging cases, the companies had announced. Earlier this month, HrdWyr announced the successful close of its Series A funding round, raising $13 million in an investment led by the well known Bengaluru deep tech VC firm Ideaspring Capital.
Last week, I got a chance to sit down with Ramamurthy Sivakumar, co-founder and CEO of HrdWyr to get a sense of what next for him, Ganesh Guruswamy, and their team of 18 engineers. Catch the full interview right here tomorrow, 6 a.m. IST. Here's a quick preview, in which Siva talks about the practical decisions semiconductor entrepreneurs have to make, especially when they decide to go build in a nascent ecosystem such as the one in India.

Coming up: Intel veteran Ramamurthy Sivakumar on HrdWyr’s roadmap for AI-native chips from India

Hari Arakali — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 02:24:33 GMT

HrdWyr, a Bengaluru-based semiconductor startup, recently secured $13 million in Series A funding led by Ideaspring Capital to advance its AI-native chip technology. The company specializes in System-on-Chip (AISoC) designs tailored for edge computing and real-world applications like electric vehicles and industrial equipment.

A significant milestone for the firm is its partnership with boAt and Tata Electronics to produce the Indus 1011, a locally designed chip for audio wearables.

Companies such as HrdWyr are getting funded in the time of a broader national push for semiconductor self-reliance, supported by significant government investment and rising market demand.

Yesterday, I spoke to Co-founder and CEO Ramamurthy Sivakumar, an Intel Corp veteran, on HrdWyr’s plans. Catch the full interview right here on Tuesday, June 16th. Here’s a 90 second preview, with Siva talking about the massive influence of AI.

Deep tech: Ideaspring Capital's founders on the circle of life and other investing lessons (Part 2)

Hari Arakali — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 00:30:00 GMT

In today’s episode, I bring you Part 2 of an interview with Naganand Doraswamy, managing partner, and Suryaprakash Konanuru, CTO, at Ideaspring Capital in Bengaluru.

In this episode, we pick up the conversation with a brief discussion on what the two VC investors are seeing when it comes to the growth of translational research in India — and I want to add that this was in the broader sense of any movement from scientific lab to commercial product, and not just in the medical field, where the term originated.

And if you stick around you’ll hear Naganand and Suri discuss their views on how early-stage investing in deep tech is changing, can such investors make meaningful investments in highly capital intensive sectors such as robotics, nuclear fusion and quantum computing hardware, in India, getting something not quite right but moving on, and whether AI is changing their work as well, and in what ways.

And as promised in Part 1, we take a quick look at what might represent a ‘Flipkart moment’ in India’s deep tech sector, and the evolution of Ideaspring itself from Fund 1 to Fund 4.

Catch Part 1 here:

Ideaspring Capital's founders on their entrepreneurs turned VCs life | Preview

Hari Arakali — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 05:12:34 GMT

Naganand Doraswamy, managing partner, and Suryaprakash Konanuru, CTO at Ideaspring Capital, a well known deep tech VC firm in Bengaluru, sat down with me recently for an interview, which I'm publishing in two parts.
Catch Part 2, the concluding part, tomorrow, in which they talk about the raise-invest-grow-exit imperative of venture investing, and what that means for investing in deep tech startups in India.
What's happening in India's top science and engineering schools when it comes to the lab-to-market journey? How is AI changing VC in deep tech and the 'Flipkart moment' of deep tech in India.

Catch Part 1 here:

Decarbonising rice: Mitti Labs founders on their plan for future of sustainable farming

Hari Arakali — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 00:30:00 GMT

In today’s episode, on the occasion of World Environment Day, I bring you a conversation with Devdut Dalal (Dev), Xavier Laguarta Soler (Xavi) and Nathan Torbick (Nate), founders of Mitti Labs.

Rice is a nutritional staple for nearly half the human population. Its cultivation is also a formidable contributor to global warming, accounting for 10-12 percent of all methane emissions from human activity. And Methane is 80-86 times more potent than CO2 in warming the planet over a 20-year timeframe, and about 28 times over a century.

Growing rice also takes up 40 percent of the world’s freshwater resources. By drowning their fields to suppress weeds, farmers have inadvertently cultivated methanogenic microbes that release this ‘super pollutant.’ At Mitti Labs, Harvard Business School alumni Dev and Xavi have teamed up with Nate, a distinguished scientist who’s worked NASA and JaXA, to build a “full-stack” remedy.

They started work in India first some three years ago, persuading farmers to try out a technique known as Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) that entails periodically drain their fields, interrupting the anaerobic feast of methane-producing bacteria.

This is a known practice developed at the International Rice Research Institute. What the entrepreneurs at Mitti Labs are doing, however, is to plug in an innovative digital Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (dMRV) platform. Using tools including satellite data and digital twins of the farms they aim to convert the methane reductions from AWD to equivalent carbon credits.

The plan at this venture, which is backed by the VC investor Lightspeed, is to become a vertically integrated carbon project developer providing farmers with free tools and a share of the revenue from the sale of the carbon credits.

Dev, Xavi and Nate, and their 100-plus team are already working with some 70,000 farmers in India, through partnerships with various NGOs and other such grassroots organisations that work closely with the farmers.

Their long-term success hinges on mobilising a substantial share of some 150 million smallholder rice growers who have farmed the same way for generations.

Chapters
(00:00) Introduction to Mitti Labs and the mission to bridge finance and farming

(01:18) Why rice is a formidable contributor to global warming

(03:19) Meeting the founders: the synthesis of supply and demand expertise

(05:31) The rice problem: water scarcity and the methane super pollutant

(08:52) The origin story: from skepticism to building a company at Harvard

(11:27) Developing a full-stack solution: finance, operations, and science

(13:55) Pulling the levers of change: tackling underexploited sources of emissions

(16:38) Convincing 150 million smallholder farmers to change generations of habits

(18:55) Operating as a vertically integrated carbon project developer

(21:21) Reaching 70,000 farmers with free tools and advisory services

(23:49) The science of satellite remote sensing and SAR technology

(29:37) Closing the loop: from on-the-ground practice to issued carbon credits

(31:17) Leveraging data as a goldmine for insights in smallholder agriculture

(33:43) Beyond the code: why the real product is environmental and social impact

(35:09) The business model: converting methane reductions into carbon tokens

(37:58) A history of rice farming and the invention of alternate wetting and drying (AWD)

(41:01) The agronomic benefits of AWD: hardier crops and pest reduction

(45:22) Quantifying water savings and methane reduction for the average farmer

(48:44) The day-to-day of village level mobilization and farmer onboarding

(53:02) Deep dive into dMRV: digital measurement, reporting, and verification

(56:50) The future of digital literacy and the potential for a farmer-facing app

(01:01:23) Identifying macro opportunities and the challenge of environmental resilience

(01:04:46) Navigating the voluntary carbon market and ensuring credit quality

(01:06:40) Scaling the thesis: geographic expansion and diversifying the buyer set

(01:10:14) The five-year vision: high-quality data and responsible corporate partnership

Coming up: Mitti Labs founders on vision for sustainable rice farming

Hari Arakali — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 05:45:53 GMT

Rice is one of our biggest staples, here in India, but the way our farmers grow it is becoming increasingly unsustainable, as it contributes to depleting our water tables to dangerous levels.

Rice cultivation is also responsible for 10-12 percent of all methane released into the atmosphere from human activity — a gas that is 80-86 times more potent than CO2 in warming the planet over a 20-year period.

Devdut Dalal, Xavier Laguarta Soler and Nathan Torbick, founders of Mitti Labs, have a plan to change this, at scale. And they're already persuading some 70,000 rice farmers in India to try out their science-backed methods. In the process, they also want to translate the reduced methane emissions to equivalent carbon credits, so that the farmers benefit from the sale of those credits.

Catch the full conversation on Friday, June 5, World Environment Day, right here or wherever you get your podcasts. Here's a quick preview, with Nate giving us a sense of the potential for methane reduction and the water savings.

Deep tech: Ideaspring Capital's founders on investing with conviction, eyes wide open (Part 1)

Hari Arakali — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 10:36:14 GMT

Today is the first day of the second year of this podcast. And in today’s episode of Conversations, I’m really happy to bring you part 1 of an interview with Naganand Doreswamy, partner, and Suryaprakash Konanuru, CTO, at Ideaspring Capital.
They are among those few VC investors in India who were backing deep tech startups long before the government’s massive research and development and innovation fund prompted everyone to want to grab a share of the pie.
This was a rich conversation for me to record, with plenty of plain speak without jargon that’s characteristic of these two VCs. We jumped right in, with Ideaspring’s latest investment, the $13 million Series A round that they led at the semiconductor company HrdWyr, how that reflects their views on deep tech investing today in India, what the RDIF has done and challenges that remain.
I hope you enjoy listening to this as much as I did recording it.
Catch the second half of this conversation on Tuesday next week, where we talk about what might represent the Flipkart moment of India’s deep tech sector, and Ideaspring’s next fund.

Mitti Labs founders on helping rice farmers cut methane, make money (Preview)

Hari Arakali — Fri, 29 May 2026 12:17:13 GMT

One could think of ‘Mitti’ — the Hindi word for soil — as representing the grounded foundation of a cooler future. And for us in India while rice that grows in our soil is a daily staple, its traditional cultivation is a hidden climate hazard. Rice cultivation worldwide is responsible for 10-12 percent of human-caused methane emissions. It also consumes staggering amounts of water.

Coming up next on Conversations at India Tech Report, Devdut Dalal, Xavier Laguarta Soler, and Nathan Torbick, co-founders of Mitti Labs talk about how they are turning rice farming into a powerful vehicle for climate action – specifically targeting methane emissions from rice fields.

Since launching in late 2023, this “full stack” climate-tech startup has scaled from an idea that Harvard alumni Dev and Xavi had to a VC-funded startup (investors include Lightspeed) touching some 70,000 small-holder farmers in India today. Mitti Labs is helping the farmers change how they water their rice crops in a manner that reduces methane emissions, cuts water use and even makes the crops hardier, the entrepreneurs say.

Nate, a distinguished scientist, adds the science and tech experience, helping Mitti Labs tap satellite remote sensing and data analytics to build a digital Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (dMRV) system, to track methane reductions at the field level. By converting these environmental wins into high-quality carbon credits, Mitti Labs aims to provide direct financial incentives and free advisory services to the farmers.

Catch the episode on June 5, World Environment Day, right here, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here’s a preview with Xavi and Dev laying out their basic thesis.
#deeptech #startup #climatechange

Mitti Labs
https://www.mittilabs.earth/about

Lightspeed's investment
https://lsvp.com/stories/lightspeeds-investment-in-mitti-labs/

Founder journeys: Ravi Kulkarni at Moonrider on the importance of the right partner — bonus episode

Hari Arakali — Thu, 28 May 2026 10:39:23 GMT

Welcome to this bonus episode in which I’m following up with a quick interview with Ravi Kulkarni, founder and COO of Moonrider, an electric tractor venture in Bengaluru. In the previous episode, I brought you a detailed sit-down conversation with Anoop Srikantaswamy, Ravi’s fellow founder and CEO.

Ravi is also a mechanical engineer by training, with a career spanning auto industry giants such as Tata Motors and Volvo. In this conversation, Ravi reflected on his innate drive to listen to the environment and solve real-world problems.

Before joining forces with Anoop, Ravi co-founded an electric three-wheeler venture, and he brings that vital execution experience to Moonrider’s mission to build tractors for the world.

In this episode, Ravi gives us a simple description of how Moonrider's proprietary refrigerated battery packs work, maintaining cell temperatures low enough to ensure that high-torque electric tractors can handle the harshest field conditions while aiming for price parity with diesel.

He also touches upon topics such as selling tractors to small-holder farmers in India on the one hand to the potential for global collaborations on the other, and the critical importance of finding the right partner if an entrepreneur wants to go from idea to successful business.

High voltage harvest: Anoop Srikantaswamy’s electric vision for the future of Indian agriculture

Hari Arakali — Tue, 19 May 2026 01:40:01 GMT

In this episode, I bring you a conversation with Anoop Srikantaswamy, founder and CEO of Moonrider, an electric tractor startup in Bengaluru. Anoop and his fellow founder Ravi Kulkarni bring deep background in the industry, having previously worked at automotive giants such as Toyota and Volvo Group.

Mechanical engineers by training, the two are entrepreneurs at heart, with Anoop having previously attempted a hyper-local medicine delivery venture while Ravi co-founded another electric mobility venture that he exited.

Anoop recalled that the idea for Moonrider was sparked by a conversation with a progressive farmer, who noted that while diesel is expensive, farm electricity is often free. Today, Moonrider is a vertically integrated leader, developing proprietary battery technology and power electronics in-house to achieve price parity with diesel.

In this conversation, we explore their moonshot journey — named in honour of the Chandrayaan launch — and discuss the future of connected and autonomous farming. Join us for an inside look at how Moonrider aims to drive the global shift toward sustainable, electric mechanization.

Chapters

(00:41) Introduction to Moonrider and the vision for a global electric vehicle platform.

(01:45) The Chandrayaan inspiration and the eureka moment for electric tractors.

(07:57) Disrupting India’s million-tractor market and improving energy security.

(09:27) Reimagining ownership through rental models and compressed biogas partnerships.

(15:19) Analyzing the economics of electric versus diesel farming costs.

(17:17) Driving vertical integration and R&D to reach price parity with diesel.

(29:31) Leveraging connected technology and computer vision for higher farm yields.

(36:05) Navigating the global roadmap toward autonomous agricultural pods.

(42:26) Building a high-voltage hardware ecosystem for entrepreneurs in India.

(51:38) Personal reflections on early entrepreneurial side-gigs and founding lessons.

Autonomous tractors: Anoop Srikantaswamy at Moonrider on the bigger picture — full interview coming soon

Hari Arakali — Sat, 16 May 2026 07:01:10 GMT

Coming up, a conversation with Anoop Srikantaswamy, founder and CEO of Moonrider, an electric tractor maker in Bengaluru. Catch the full interview on Tuesday, May 19th right here, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Here’s a short preview, in which Anoop talks about the state of commercialisation of autonomous tractors and what they might be like in the future. He also talks about the bigger picture in agriculture in which autonomous gear will be important, but one of multiple factors.

Polsky Center selects 20 Indian deep tech startups, new funding rounds at Flo Mobility, HrdWyr

Hari Arakali — Wed, 13 May 2026 14:53:03 GMT

The first cohort of the India deep tech accelerator at University of Chicago’s Polsky Center. Image courtesy Polsky Center.

(00:00) Just the headlines, if you only have a minute

(01:26) The Polsky Center selects 20 Indian startups for first accelerator

The University of Chicago’s Polsky Center has named 20 startups to the first cohort of its India Deep Tech Accelerator, a global programme for IIT-affiliated ventures. The 10-week accelerator is designed to help founders turn research-heavy ideas into market-ready companies through workshops, coaching, and access to customers, partners and investors in India and the US.

The cohort spans AI, robotics, climate and energy, healthtech, semiconductors, space and industrial software. Selected companies include Adaapt, Augle.AI, BioSky Space Innovations, Curium Life, Folium Sensing, NXPEC Technologies, Timble AI and Zodhya Technologies.

(02:20) C-CAMP opens applications for NBEC 2026

C-CAMP has opened applications for the 9th National Bio Entrepreneurship Competition, a platform for bio-entrepreneurs, startups, student teams, researchers and innovators in the life sciences. The programme will offer mentorship, industry exposure and funding support, with selected startups and individuals eligible for cash prizes and investment opportunities of up to INR 20 crore.

Student teams can win up to INR 10 lakh, and shortlisted applicants will attend a two-day bootcamp led by experts from IIM Ahmedabad. The competition was launched by Karnataka IT/BT Minister Priyank Kharge at C-CAMP.

(03:15) IIT Madras opens California hub for Indian deep-tech startups

IIT Madras Global Research Foundation has launched its first US centre in Menlo Park, California, to help Indian deep-tech startups scale internationally. The hub, established with CA Startups, will focus on research, startup incubation, commercialisation and access to global capital, markets and partnerships.

The project carries a planned investment of $7.5 million, including a $4.5 million greenfield investment from IITM Global. The centre is positioned near Silicon Valley and is intended to strengthen India–US innovation ties, with a second US centre planned for the East Coast.

(04:02) IIT Bombay launches India’s first CCUS field lab

IIT Bombay has inaugurated an integrated pilot facility for carbon capture, utilisation and storage, marking India’s first end-to-end CCUS field laboratory. The project combines an indigenous carbon capture plant with geological CO2 sequestration in Deccan basalt formations, and was launched by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan under the Bharat Innovates 2026 initiative.

The institute said the facility uses a patented aqueous CO2 capture technology and is meant to support India’s long-term net-zero goals through a self-reliant carbon mitigation model.

(04:49) Government maps climate risk in 651 farm districts

The Centre has assessed climate vulnerability across 651 predominantly agricultural districts and found 310 to be at risk, including 109 classified as very highly vulnerable and 201 as highly vulnerable. The assessment, carried out under ICAR’s National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture programme using IPCC protocols, is being used to scale up climate-resilient farming practices, district agriculture contingency plans and farmer support measures across India.

ICAR has also expanded climate-resilient technologies through model villages, KVKs and training programmes, while the government is promoting crop insurance, water-efficient irrigation and resilient seed varieties to help farmers cope with droughts, floods and heat stress.

(05:52) India’s clean energy transition bolsters economic resilience

Clean energy transition is now central to India’s economic resilience and growth strategy, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Pralhad Joshi said at the CII Green Business Summit 2026. He highlighted that India has achieved 47 percent of its power capacity from non-fossil sources, ahead of schedule for the 2030 target of 50 percent, with renewables growing at 15.4 percent annually against 4.1 percent for fossil fuels.

Minister Joshi emphasised investments in green hydrogen, battery storage and nuclear energy as key to energy security and net-zero goals by 2070.

(06:41) Flo Mobility raises $2.5 million in pre-Series A

Bengaluru-based construction robotics startup Flo Mobility has raised $2.5 million in a pre-Series A round co-led by Mela Ventures and Arali Ventures. The funding will scale manufacturing, enhance its AI and autonomy stack, expand deployments across India and enter international markets, particularly the Middle East.

The company builds autonomous robots for material movement on construction sites, addressing labour shortages and improving efficiency. Flo Mobility’s robots are already deployed across 10 Indian states with clients including Larsen & Toubro, Godrej Properties and Sobha.

(07:28) HrdWyr raises $13 million Series A to build AI-native chipsRamamurthy Sivakumar and Ganesh Guruswamy, founders of HrdWyr, have just announced a $13 million Series A investment led by Indeaspring Capital. Image courtesy: Sivakumar.