India\u2019s deep tech research won\u2019t move to real-world deployment unless scientists and engineers developing the technologies also acquire founder and commercialisation capabilities, senior representatives with Shell India and IIT Madras have told Moneycontrol.
\nDeep tech ventures in India face two major gaps - proving that the technology works outside the lab, and then scaling them into viable businesses, the officials said. \u201cThere is a valley of death in between. Lab-to-market is not an automatic path of progression. Even incentivising with money does not work here, because it is not money that is the problem,\u201d R Raghuttama Rao, CEO, GDC and Fellow, School of Sustainability, IIT Madras, told Moneycontrol. \u201cThe missing piece is entrepreneurial capability.\u201d The comments come at a time when policymakers and industry leaders have been pointing at India\u2019s weak presence in deep tech startups. In April this year, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal drew criticism for publicly chastising startups and pointing out that India had only about 1,000 ventures in this space.
\nDeep Tech\u2019s Valleys of Death
\nAccording to Raghuttama Rao, India\u2019s deep tech startups must cross \u201ctwo valleys of death.\u201d
\nThe first is demonstrating that a research breakthrough works beyond controlled academic environments, and the second one is scaling up of the technology for production and adoption.
\n\u201cScaling is both a technology and a business problem,\u201d he added.
\nShell\u2019s Multi-stage Engagement Model
\nTo solve this issue, Shell India said it has created multiple ways to engage with startups at different stages for deep techs, including early-stage pilots, support for mid-stage ventures, and larger investments via Shell Ventures for companies that have crossed early Proof-of-Concept hurdles.
\nShell held the third edition of the Changemakers of Tomorrow event in Bengaluru in September, bringing academics, startups, and industry stakeholders to discuss innovation in energy transition.
\nThe company evaluates early technologies on three questions before backing or piloting them. \u201cDoes this matter? Will it work? And can you create a differentiated value proposition?\u201d Ajay Mehta, Shell India\u2019s VP - Engineering Technology, told Moneycontrol.
\nShell and IIT Madras have also expanded their collaboration through a new programme called I-GNITE, launched with the institute\u2019s Gopalakrishnan Deshpande Centre (GDC), or Shell GDC I-GNITE Program in short.
\nThe initiative, which builds on a research partnership formalised in 2022, incubates AI and ML-led startups working on areas such as low-carbon fuels, carbon management, renewable materials, and decarbonisation technologies.
\nAI-led Discovery and Optimisation
\nCiting an example, Mehta mentioned Detect Technologies, an IIT Madras-origin startup that began as a student project and later matured through Shell\u2019s innovation funnel.
\nDetect Technologies tackles emerging problem areas using AI.
\nMehta added that Shell is working on using AI for materials discovery, production systems optimization, and decarbonisation monitoring. \u201cYou cannot manage what you do not measure. Better monitoring of greenhouse gases is a big area of interest,\u201d he added.
\nAs appeared in MoneyControl
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