Coming up, a conversation with Gokul NA, founder and head of product, design & brand at CynLr (Cybernetics Laboratories), a robotics startup in Bengaluru.
Gokul, his fellow founder Nikhil Ramaswamy, and their team at CynLr, have recently released what he described as an Object Intelligence Stack. The technology aims to mimic the curiosity and adaptability of a human infant, allowing robots to manipulate unfamiliar items without specific prior training.
By collaborating with the Centre for Neuroscience at the Indian Institute of Science, CynLr is translating brain-function research into a sophisticated software and sensor framework. Their long-term vision involves creating a manipulation operating system and an “object store” and a “task store” to transform flexible manufacturing, just as the App Store transformed the smartphone.
Currently, they are deploying these solutions in the automotive and semiconductor industries to automate some complex manual assembly processes. You can catch the full conversation on Friday, March 6 right here or wherever you get your podcasts.
Here’s a one-minute preview with Gokul envisioning a future “manipulation OS” for robots of which the object intelligence stack is the precursor.
Priyansh Mohan and Stuti Kakkar, founders of MEINE Electric in Chennai, are developing an Iron-air battery energy storage system that they hope will help reduce curtailment of renewables-based power.Listen to the preview
Renewable energy in India faces a fundamental problem of timing. Solar panels and wind turbines produce electricity when nature dictates, not necessarily when industrial factories require it. For the green transition to succeed, power must be stored for the long hours when the sun is down or the wind is still. While lithium-ion batteries serve short durations, they remain too costly for day-long storage.
Coming up on Feb. 10, in my next episode of Conversations at India Tech Report, I speak with Priyansh Mohan and Stuti Kakkar, friends from school turned co-founders – at MEINE Electric, to talk about their innovations in developing iron-air batteries for longer duration storage.
By controlling the process of reversible rusting, the duo aims to provide energy storage for 16 to 24 hours at a fraction of current prices. Their approach uses abundant materials — iron, air, and water — to avoid the complicated supply chains associated with rarer metals.
In this episode, we get a peek into the engineering innovations behind their technology and some of the challenges that remain in the way of building deep tech companies from India. Backed by Rebalance, Antler, Venture Catalysts and gradCapital, Stuti and Priyansh have raised a pre-seed funding recently.
They are working to release a pilot-ready version of their first product as early as later this year.
You can catch the full conversation right here, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here’s a 90-second preview.
Generated image to illustrate deep tech startups. India has modified its policies to provide longer term support for such startups.
India has rewritten the rulebook for startups in the country, carving out a separate deep‑tech category with a longer recognition window and higher turnover ceiling in a move aimed at research‑heavy, capital‑intensive ventures.
In a gazette notification dated February 4, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) said deep‑tech startups recognised under the Startup India framework will be eligible for benefits for up to 20 years from incorporation, twice the 10‑year limit that continues to apply to other startups. The annual turnover cap for such entities has been set at Rs. 300 crore.
The notification replaces the 2019 definition of a startup and, for the first time, provides a formal policy definition of what counts as “deep tech”. DPIIT describes deep‑tech startups as entities building solutions rooted in new scientific or engineering knowledge, with high research‑and‑development intensity, ownership or creation of novel intellectual property, long development timelines and substantial technical uncertainty.
Sectors explicitly cited in government and industry commentary include artificial intelligence and associated infrastructure, semiconductors, space, biotechnology, new materials, energy and quantum technologies.
Governments from Washington to Brussels and Beijing have been racing to update startup and industrial‑policy regimes to court deep‑tech founders, whose capital needs and time horizons sit awkwardly with standard venture‑capital cycles. Europe has launched targeted deep‑tech funds, while America has used instruments such as the CHIPS and Science Act to back strategic technologies; China continues to marshal state support for advanced manufacturing and hard tech.
India has recently launched a research, development and innovation fund of Rs. 100,000 crore.
The move to extend recognition to 20 years and raise the turnover threshold is cast in Delhi as an attempt to signal that the government is prepared to match the longer gestation of frontier technologies with a more patient policy framework at the highest levels.
“This is a decisive and forward‑looking move by the government. By formally recognising deep‑tech startups and giving them a longer runway, India is aligning policy with the realities of science‑led innovation,” Vishesh Rajaram, founding partner at the well know deep tech VC firm Speciale Invest, said in an emailed statement.
“It sends a clear signal that the country is serious about building IP‑driven deep‑tech companies from India for the world—and gives founders and investors the confidence to commit long‑term capital to that journey,” Rajaram added.
Beyond timelines and turnover, the revised framework also tweaks the scope of who can qualify as a startup under the scheme. Cooperative societies are now eligible alongside companies and LLPs, broadening access to benefits, while regular startups retain a 10‑year recognition window and see their turnover cap raised from Rs. 100 crore to Rs. 200 crore.
DPIIT will continue to process applications through its portal, but deep‑tech ventures must furnish additional evidence of scientific novelty, R&D spend and IP creation to qualify for the extended treatment.
“India just gave deep tech a real policy home and BYT Capital welcomes DPIIT’s new Deep Tech Startup definition (4 Feb 2026), a timely step that aligns policy with the realities of frontier innovation,” Amit Chand, founder of BYT Capital, an early stage deep tech VC firm in Bengaluru, said in an emailed statement.
“By extending startup recognition for eligible deep‑tech ventures to 20 years and raising the turnover threshold to Rs. 300 crore, this policy doesn’t just add a label, it improves time horizons, capital efficiency, and investability for deep‑tech in India,” Chand said.
He added: “This is a meaningful step toward making India more ‘fundable’ for frontier innovation because policy timelines now look closer to deep‑tech timelines”.
In a recent episode of Conversations at India Tech Report, Jay Panchal, founder and CEO at Aule Space spoke about his young space-tech startup’s vision to help build India’s robot workforce in space.
Aule is starting on that journey with the aim of launching a fleet of “jetpacks” that will work as mission extension vehicles for geostationary satellites and offer other applications in the defense sector as well.
You can find the full conversation at indiatechreport.in or wherever you get your podcasts.
Here’s a quick chapter on some of Jay’s important formative experiences that set him on the path to entrepreneurship in the space economy.
Today I’m joined by Jay Panchal, founder and CEO of Aule Space, in Bengaluru. Jay started the company in 2024 with his fellow founders Nithyaa Giri, who’s Aule’s CTO, and Hrishit Tambi, its COO.
He talks about their efforts so far to develop “jetpacks” – sophisticated Mission Extension Vehicles (MEVs) designed for the task of rendezvous, proximity operations, and docking (RPOD).
The trio of entrepreneurs has just raised $2 million in pre-seed funding led by pi Ventures, a well-known deep tech VC firm in Bengaluru.
Aule Space founders (L-R) Hrishit Tambi, Jay Panchal and Nithyaa Giri. Image source: Aule Space. Edited by Hari Arakali.
Aule is developing an innovative non-cooperative docking mechanism, giving its jetpacks the ability to latch onto satellites and debris not originally designed for docking. Its design combines a satellite-agnostic docking mechanism with AI-driven guidance, navigation and control algorithms, aiming to field one of the world’s lightest and most cost-efficient RPOD satellite fleets.
The company is targeting use-cases from life extension of high-value geostationary communications satellites and debris removal to defence applications such as close-in inspection for space-domain awareness. With the long-term vision of establishing a robotic workforce in space, Jay hopes that over the next five years, Aule will operate a fleet of jetpacks. Their technology demonstrator could be ready as early as next year.
Jay Panchal, founder and CEO at Aule Space, along with his fellow founders Nithyaa Giri and Hrishit Tambi, has raised $2 million led by pi Ventures, to build ‘jetpacks’ that can keep satellites going.Listen to the preview
Coming up on Tuesday, Feb. 3 For my next episode of Conversations at India Tech Report, I sat down with Jay Panchal, the young Founder and CEO at Aule Space.
Jay and his fellow founders Nithyaa Giri and Hrishit Tambi have raised pre-seed funding for Aule to build autonomous “jetpack” satellites that can dock with spacecraft that are running out of fuel and keep them going in orbit.
The round totals $2 million, led by pi Ventures with participation from several angel investors, including former Intelsat board member Eash Sundaram and Tonbo Imaging chief executive Arvind Lakshmikumar.
Founded in 2024 by Jay, Nithyaa and Hrishit, Aule Space is developing satellites that can safely approach, latch on to and manoeuvre other spacecraft, a class of capability known in the trade as Rendezvous, Proximity Operations and Docking (RPOD).
The company will use the new capital to expand its engineering team, build ground infrastructure for docking tests and ready its first demonstration satellites, slated to launch next year.
Aule’s design combines a satellite-agnostic docking mechanism with AI-driven guidance, navigation and control algorithms, aiming to field one of the world’s lightest and most cost-efficient RPOD satellite fleets. The company is targeting use-cases from life extension of high-value geostationary communications satellites and debris removal to defence applications such as close-in inspection for space-domain awareness.
Catch the full conversation right here, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here’s a quick preview.
