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Business Standard

CII Summit 2025: Startup founders urge for domestic capital, tech push

The founders of several homegrown start-ups across sectors called for a stronger push from domestic investors and a greater focus on technological innovation to help the ecosystem grow and compete globally. Speaking at the CII Annual Business Summit 2025 on Thursday, the founders also highlighted the country's deep pool of skilled talent as a key driver of future growth. Vrinda Kapoor, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of 3rdiTech (pronounced third-eye tech), a semiconductor company, pointed out that by 2030, China will hold 65 per cent of global semiconductor and electronics capacity for defence. 'That's the beast we are up against, but India is the only country with enough skilled manpower to be able to compete with China. For this, Indian product companies need to emerge, and Indian capital needs to back them,' Kapoor said, adding that 20 per cent of the world's semiconductor design talent is based in three Indian cities—Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Pune. On competition with China, Rajat Verma, Founder and CEO of Lohum, a battery recycling and critical minerals refining company, said that while India has sufficient talent, more private capital is needed. 'The Chinese ecosystem is way too deep, way too big. We need the entire downstream ecosystem to be created in India. We have a big market that can be served by Indian companies; this big market allows us to get to scale and then serve the global ecosystem. But one of the problems in the Indian deep tech market is capital, as the private capital market is not deep enough,' Verma said. Speaking about taking Indian start-ups onto the global stage, Shashank ND, Co-founder and CEO of health-tech firm Practo, said, 'We have become a hub for consumers choosing India as a destination for healthcare, but I think the technology access that could be possible isn't right there.' He added that technological innovation and access could help extend the services of well-trained Indian doctors to people worldwide. Paavan Nanda, Co-founder and CEO of gaming company WinZo Games, added that in the context of gaming and entertainment, India's rich culture and technological capability could be integrated to create export-ready global products. 'The Indian art and culture, when married with the strength of Indian tech, can come up with an extremely impactful product and companies that can compete with the Activision Blizzards, Googles, and Metas of the world,' Nanda said.