Lightspeed launches accelerator for young deeptech startups in India
Lightspeed Venture Partners just rolled out "India Ascends," an accelerator designed for Indian deeptech startups led by founders aged 25 or younger.
The focus is on cutting-edge fields like aerospace, defense, robotics, and AI—helping young innovators build core tech and encouraging them to stay and build companies in India.
What's on offer?
Twelve selected startups will join a two-day bootcamp, each getting $80,000 in cloud and AI credits.
The top three will score seed funding between $200,000 and $3 million, plus $500,000 more in compute credits and a year-long strategic roadmap.
Key partners & how to apply
Anthropic, Groq, Google Cloud, and AWS are providing compute credits through partnerships.
Applications close January 12, 2025; winners are announced February 6, 2025.
Lightspeed says more cohorts could be added if the quality's high.
Why this matters
Lightspeed has backed Indian deeptech since 2020—with investments in Pixxel, Kalam Labs, and Airbound Aerospace.
Partner Hemant Mohapatra says India Ascends aims to bridge early-stage funding gaps so young founders can turn their R&D dreams into reality.