India Dives Deep into the Deep Tech Stack with Startup Policy Forum’s New Advisory Board

Startup Policy Forum, a bridge between startups and the public policy ecosystem, led by Shweta Rajpal Kohli(CEO and President), Avantika Gode, Shubhangi Poddar, and specialist firms like AP & Partners(Legal Partners), Aeka Advisors(Taxation Partner), Chase Advisors(Policy Know How & Research Partners), Ikigai Law(Tech Policy Partners), and AVIAN We(Policy Communications Partner), recently announced a DeepTech Advisory Board to support the development of India’s deeptech policy ecosystem. The board includes members from both fundamental parts of the startup ecosystem i.e., investors including Prashanth Prakash (Accel India), Anjali Bansal (Avaana Capital), Sateesh Andra (Endiya Partners), Pranav Pai (3one4 Capital), and Vishesh Rajaram (Speciale Invest) and founders like Tarun Mehta (Ather Energy) and Anirudh Sharma (Digantara); policymakers Dr. Chagun Basha (Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser), Panneerselvam Madangopal (MeitY Startup Hub), and Dr. Manish Diwan (BIRAC); Prof. Thillai Rajan (IIT Madras); Shradha Sharma (YourStory); and technology investors Vibhore Sharma and Anandamoy Roychowdhry.

The board will anchor #100DesiDeepTechs, a bold initiative with MeitY Startup Hub, Startup India–DPIIT, and IIT Madras to spotlight and support 100 pioneering deep-tech startups. These trailblazers will not only shape policy and tackle regulatory frontiers in advanced manufacturing, space, biotech, and AI, but also chart the course for India’s next era of innovation.

In addition, the board will collaborate with the Centre for DeepTech Policy Research (CDPR), a dedicated hub driving deep-tech policy studies and shaping forward-looking frameworks for innovation.

The #100DesiDeepTechs cohort, curated by IIT-Madras, brings together startups across frontier domains including semiconductors, defence, quantum technologies, green hydrogen, space, drones and unmanned systems, electric vehicles, biotechnology, robotics, advanced manufacturing, and communications infrastructure. In the coming months, the Startup Policy Forum will host focused roundtables to capture policy inputs from these ventures. The insights will then be consolidated by Ikigai Law into a comprehensive report, set to be presented at the DeepTech Baithak.