Karnataka's Innoverse aims to bridge the 'third valley of death' for deeptech start-ups

The prototype is ready, the technology works, the first clients have signed the deal. And yet, for a deeptech start-up, none of these may mean that the hardest part is over. They still need to cross what is known as the "third valley of death", the stage where initial traction for a product needs to be scaled into sustained commercial growth.

Innoverse Foundation, a Section 8 entity under Karnataka's IT-BT Department, intends to extend a hand to the start-ups that are crossing the third valley through its DeepTech Enabler programme, and has announced its first cohort of growth-stage start-ups.

The first cohort brings together start-ups working across five priority sectors, developing technologies spanning autonomous systems, indigenous navigation, regenerative medicine, orbital computing, counter-drone systems and solid propulsion.

The first cohort

The DeepTech Enabler programme is envisioned as an annual nine-month cohort of up to 10 start-ups. It is focused on start-ups that have proven product-market fit, sizeable revenue and a funding base, but require coordinated access to infrastructure, anchor customers, manufacturing readiness, regulatory support and scale-up capital.

AquaAirX Autonomous Systems, Fibroheal Woundcare, Hyspace Technologies Pvt Ltd (SkyServe), OptM Media Solutions, SpaceFields, UNMANND Autonomy, and Yaanendriya are the seven start-ups selected for the first cohort.

AquaAirX Autonomous Systems has been developing autonomous, amphibious and underwater systems for defence and maritime applications. Fibroheal Woundcare focuses on advanced biomaterial-based healthcare solutions using silk protein science for wound care, tissue regeneration, surgical applications and regenerative medicine.

Hyspace Technologies has been building onboard computing infrastructure that enables satellites to process data and generate actionable insights directly in orbit. OptM Media Solutions works on indigenous, edge-AI-enabled autonomous ground-vehicle systems and middleware for defence, while SpaceFields has been developing indigenous solid-propellant and allied technologies for space, aerospace and defence.

UNMANND Autonomy builds autonomous aerial systems, including high-altitude logistics drones and counter-drone systems, and Yaanendriya develops indigenous sensing, navigation and embedded control systems for defence, aerospace, robotics and industrial applications.

Crossing the bridge

"The first cohort of the Innoverse DeepTech Enabler represents the kind of technology capabilities that can have a significant impact across strategic sectors. By bringing together industry, infrastructure, capital, markets and policy support around these companies, we can create stronger pathways for Karnataka-born technologies to scale nationally and globally," said IT-BT Minister Priyank Kharge.

The DeepTech Enabler will work with each start-up to create measurable progress across the defined problem statements through a company-specific engagement plan.

"The seven companies in our first cohort have already demonstrated that they can build and validate difficult technologies. The challenge now is different. They need the right customers, infrastructure, regulatory pathways, capital and ecosystem partnerships to move from individual deployments to repeatable commercial scale," said Pravin Hungund, CEO, Innoverse Foundation.

"The role of Innoverse is to bring these pieces together around each company and build a pathway that is specific to its growth requirements. We want Cohort 1 to demonstrate that deeptech companies can be systematically supported to cross the Third Valley of Death," he added.

Specific targets

Alongside the Enabler, Innoverse is also developing the Innoverse Connect Programme, which will provide targeted support to early revenue-generating start-ups facing specific challenges.

Innoverse has set specific growth ambitions for the first cohorts of the Enabler and Connect programmes, targeting a twofold increase in the combined annual revenue of the cohort from approximately ₹35 crore to ₹70 crore. It also aims to mobilise growth capital from approximately ₹150 crore to more than ₹300 crore.

Cohort 1 will run through June 2027, with progress tracked against its revenue and capital targets as well as the anchor-customer contracts, certifications and international market-entry pathways secured for each company. Applications for Cohort 2 are expected to open after the completion of the first cohort.