Why Hitachi Ventures wants a front-row seat in India’s deeptech boom

Hitachi Ventures has made India part of its global deeptech strategy, according to senior executives at the venture fund.

"The idea to set up shop here was relatively clear: the Indian market is a very international market. At the same time, it operates under its own rules in the venture game," said Wolfgang Seibold, partner and chief investment officer at Hitachi Ventures, in an interview with Mint. "You need to be part of the inner network here to take part in good deals. We needed to be here in order to play."

The firm is among a growing list of corporate venture funds looking to invest in deeptech in India. Others include TDK Ventures, which began investing in 2023; Sony Innovation Fund, which has begun reinvesting in India; and Qualcomm Ventures, which has set up a $150 million India-focused fund.

Hitachi Ventures is the corporate venture capital arm of Japanese conglomerate Hitachi, which operates across industries including digital transformation, energy, industrial automation, healthcare and electric mobility. However, the fund does not invest off the conglomerate's balance sheet.

The Munich-based fund was set up in 2019 with two $150 million funds. It raised a $300 million fund in 2023 and a $400 million fund in 2025, from which it is currently deploying capital.

The firm invests in startups from seed stage through Series C. Seed cheques typically range from $1-2 million, Series A investments from $2-4 million, and Series B investments and beyond from $5-10 million. Across its four funds, the firm has a portfolio of 70 companies, which it expects to grow to 90 as it backs more businesses through its latest investment vehicle.

India strategy

To make more focused investments in India, Hitachi Ventures hired Radhika Ananth in August 2025. She serves as managing director, India investments for the firm.

Like several venture capital funds in India chasing deeptech opportunities, Hitachi Ventures is focused on frontier technologies.

"The parent company is very much focused on frontier technology, so building on that, that's how we look at ventures," said Ananth.

Its investments in India reflect that approach. The firm has made five bets so far. It began last year with Ema AI, the artificial intelligence startup founded by former Flipkart executive Surojit Banerjee, although the company is now mostly US-based, with a presence in India.

It's other investments include Scimplify, Exponent Energy, RapidCanvas, and e6data.

The firm's areas of interest include AI, spacetech, fusion, quantum computing and defence.

"There are opportunities native to India as well, like advanced manufacturing. We've recently seen a slew of IPOs on that front and there will be more that open up," Ananth said.

India has seen precision manufacturing companies such as Aequs and SEDEMAC go public between late last year and early this year. Defence manufacturer Tonbo Imaging debuted on the public markets last week, listing at a 66% premium on the Bombay Stock Exchange and a 65.71% premium on the National Stock Exchange. Similarly, Accel-backed Zetwerk went public last week, with early investors sitting on potentially large gains.

Energy bets

Energy is another area on which the firm is bullish, according to Seibold.

"Energy is a big topic for us globally and here in India. We see a lot of topics coming up across green hydrogen, grid resilience and solid state transformers."

On defence, the firm is more cautious, preferring companies with dual-use applications. Much of this stems from the fact that defence companies can end up being primarily national plays because of their strategic importance.

Given that Hitachi Ventures looks for businesses with global potential, pure-play defence startups can be difficult to back, not only because of their regional focus but also because of restrictions and considerations around foreign capital if they eventually look to list on public markets. Companies working on cyber-defence and cybersecurity are likely to attract more interest, according to the firm.

Valuation caution

Hitachi Ventures is wary of how quickly deeptech valuations are rising in India. Part of the concern stems from the entry of generalist funds that previously lacked the capacity to invest in the sector, adding to competition and pushing up valuations.

“In India, we see high entry valuations in selective topics such as AI native but exit valuations have not gotten to a level like other international markets” Ananth said.