Latest news with #PrashanthPrakash
Time of India
2 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Accel bets on IP-led advanced manufacturing companies
Bengaluru: Accel is placing a strategic focus on a new investment theme in India: advanced manufacturing. This move highlights how the VC firm is positioning itself to leverage an early mover advantage in this emerging sector. These companies harness engineering, scientific, or process innovations, backed by proprietary IP, system-level expertise, or integration skills. "Accel's interest in advanced manufacturing deepened after witnessing the success of companies like Zetwerk, which effectively leveraged industrial AI, robotics, and hardware. The global trend shows traditional software-focused VCs are warming up to industrial, multi-dimensional startups. The complexity here translates into durable moats, which is attractive for venture investment," said Prashanth Prakash, partner at Accel. Domestic manufacturing is estimated to reach $1.3 trillion by the 2029–30 financial year, growing at a CAGR of 18%. In line with this opportunity, Accel is investing in advanced manufacturing startups—ranging from fabless chip design and EV components to space-grade materials and process automation. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Why Seniors Are Snapping Up This TV Box, We Explain! Techno Mag Learn More Undo Portfolio companies such as Scimplify, Fabheads, Bounce, and Nabhdrishti are already driving innovations in embedded systems, materials science, and system integration. You Can Also Check: Bengaluru AQI | Weather in Bengaluru | Bank Holidays in Bengaluru | Public Holidays in Bengaluru Prakash believes this decade will be defined by AI-driven industrialisation and precision manufacturing, with startups addressing complex supply chains, enabling import substitution, and positioning India as a global hub for IP-led manufacturing. "While some small grants and seed funds exist, scaling products requires capital, which remains the main bottleneck beyond gestation time. Globally, investors are increasingly backing defence and manufacturing startups due to the moats built by complex systems, which are hard to replicate," he said. Advanced manufacturing involves design, engineering, materials, software, and scalable production—commanding higher value and wages. "Gestation times will shorten with the right capital and founders. In three years, we expect 50–100 advanced manufacturing companies in India, many crossing $100 million valuations," he added. Capital flow into this space is expected to accelerate over the next 12–24 months as investors observe success stories and government schemes such as the Rs 10,000 crore R&D fund and design-led incentives (DLI) take effect. India has also emerged as a leading alternative for global manufacturing destinations. Beyond geopolitical tensions, the concentration risk around critical inputs has become a significant concern. China commands 60–70% of the global rare earth market, produces 80% of the world's solar PV modules, and dominates key supply chains in batteries and pharmaceutical APIs. This dependency has raised national security concerns, prompting countries to incentivise reshoring and nearshoring of critical industries. When asked about Accel's investment blueprint, Prakash clarified that the firm is not carving out a separate fund yet. "But advanced manufacturing will be a major theme in our recently raised $650 million fund. We are also exploring accelerator-like initiatives such as Atoms. We currently have 4–5 companies in advanced manufacturing in our pipeline and expect about 10 active companies by the end of this year, all with market-ready products," he added.
Mint
3 days ago
- Business
- Mint
Accel rejigs India playbook, bets on IP-led manufacturing after previous misses
Some of Accel's theses for India, such as climate tech and sustainability, agritech, and electric vehicles, haven't panned out as well as the global venture capital firm had hoped. But that's not stopped Accel from setting its sights on what it calls advanced manufacturing, where the firm plans to make significant bets from its latest $650-million fund. 'I don't think climate tech has close to lived up to its potential, at least in India, and I think it's the same for some other nations globally," Prashanth Prakash, partner at Accel told Mint in an interview. In the agritech space, Accel's investment in AgroStar is among a few that's expected to pay off. The VC firm led a $6.7 million fundraising round in April for the Pune-based startup that offers seeds and farming advice to farmers. As for the consumption sector, Prakash said Accel continues to be positive, although he added that both VCs and startups have to find 'new paradigms" rather than building another Swiggy or Flipkart. 'I don't think you can do more of the same. We believe that the current platforms are very powerful but it's about finding new pockets of consumption beyond the top 100 cities," said Prakash. 'We're trying to double down but it's still early days." Accel's investments in India's consumption sector include Bengaluru-based grocery chain Apna Mart, starting with a $10-million Series A investment in 2023, and e-commerce platform CityMall, where the VC firm led a $11 million Series A round in 2021. While climate tech and agritech might not have played out as well as Accel had hoped for, the investment firm expects Indian startups will have a role to play in the global energy transition space. 'I think it's coming down to hardware and components. For example, how do you create rare earth-free motors," said Prakash. Accel has made investments in what it calls electric vehicle components but those remain unannounced. It's these kinds of spaces, where creating intellectual property (IP) is crucial, that Accel believes the country will be able to shine. Advanced manufacturing as India's moat Accel's increased focus on manufacturing in India comes at a time when geopolitical upheavals are causing companies across the world to look outside of China for their requirements. India is attempting to position itself as the most viable option. What Accel calls advanced manufacturing is essentially where startups build capabilities from an IP and engineering-fist standpoint. 'Startups in this space leverage innovation across a few dimensions, not all of them in every case, but it could be more than one," Prakash said. The three innovation archetypes that Accel segregates startups into are product-led, process-led, and equipment-led. Examples of startups of each archetype include gas turbine company Nabhdrishti Aerospace, speciality chemical manufacturer Scimplify, and carbon fiber and composite manufacturer Fabheads, respectively. Accel sees innovations from each of these archetypes cropping up in sectors like aerospace and defence, electronic components, medical devices, space, automobiles, chemicals, and EV-based components. India produces about 1.5 million engineers every year, but only about 10% of them find employment, according to a TeamLease report. But with manufacturing picking up, Accel believes these engineers can find employment in the sector. 'India's talent engineering talent pool was always repurposed. It was always directed towards coding. It was an utter waste of engineering talent," said Prakash.
Mint
25-07-2025
- Health
- Mint
India has the potential to be a global lab for scalable longevity solutions: Accel's Prashanth Prakash
Bengaluru-based wellness startup Biopeak had raised $3.5 million recently in a funding round led by Prashanth Prakash, founding partner of Accel Partners, that also saw participation from Manipal Group's Ranjan Pai through his investment vehicle Claypond Capital and Zerodha's Nikhil Kamath and Nithin Kamath. In this exclusive interview, Prakash talks about longevity as a concept and its importance in future. Excerpts: Hello Prashanth, what was the thought process behind this investment decision? The timing of this investment is deeply intentional. We are at a unique intersection in human health where diagnostics, artificial intelligence, and longevity science are converging with extraordinary speed. Biopeak is building an integrated, precision health system grounded in global science but tailored to the unique biological, environmental, and lifestyle factors of the Indian population. This is not just a business bet—it's a belief that India will lead the world in next-generation healthcare. The thought process was simple: medicine is shifting from reactive to predictive and preventive, and Biopeak is among the few platforms architecting that future in a scalable, scientifically grounded way. It will enable us to plot with unprecedented detail personalised health trajectories for a specific individual using multi-dimensional data collection, integration, and prediction. The focus on deeply personalised healthcare is going to be huge in the future. Right? The transition from universal averages to personalised insights will represent a revolution in how we detect, predict, prevent adverse events and build resilience reserves. This new model of Biology and AI-led medicine is an exciting paradigm for the future of healthcare in our country that investors are excited to back. What's your definition of longevity? Longevity, for us, is not merely about extending the lifespan but expanding the healthspan. Ensuring more years that are healthy, vital, and productive is more crucial. In the Indian context, this requires a unique balance: respect for traditional knowledge systems, alignment with evolving regulatory frameworks, and deep reliance on evidence-based science. We're combining cutting-edge diagnostics—from microbiome and metabolomics to imaging and functional genomics—with culturally compatible interventions and a powerful AI layer. Longevity for us in India means democratising access to health optimisation—life partnerships between human intelligence and machine precision, rooted in science, ethics, and scale. In ancient civilizations including India, people were said to have lived for a much longer span of time. How do you relate that to the work Biopeak is doing and the results it is hoping to achieve? While environmental and societal contexts have changed drastically, ancient systems often emphasised internal balance, rhythm with nature, and preventative health —all are core principles in today's longevity science. At Biopeak, we're not romanticising the past—we're modelling it. Using symbolic and generative AI frameworks, we're integrating timeless health principles with modern biological data to predict individual responses to pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and lifestyle interventions. It's not about replicating ancient lifespans—it's about reclaiming biological potential by harmonising past wisdom with today's precision tools. Do you think longevity as a concept can be realistically spread to all sections of society? Or will it remain only an aspiration of the well-heeled? Longevity must not become a luxury. With AI at the core of Biopeak's platform, we can rapidly model and scale health solutions based on outcomes from higher-touch cases to broader population needs. What starts with the few can be democratised for the many through intelligent design, efficient diagnostics, and continuous learning from diverse cohorts. India has the potential to be a global lab for scalable longevity solutions—not by diluting science but by deploying it with cultural and economic sensitivity. Through our own longitudinal data leveraging interdisciplinary collaboration (Longevity India, an initiative of the Indian Institute of Science), we aim to identify markers of organ system malfunction before pathology sets in so that we can implement a health management program which will extend healthspan and improve the quality of life for the ageing population across all sections of society. At the core of Biopeak's offering, I believe, is a diagnostic system that includes tests like organic acid profiling, microbiome mapping, salivary cortisol rhythms, and whole-exome functional genomics. These are paired with imaging tools such as MRI, CT, and ECHO, as well as tissue-level screenings that examine markers like mineral levels, toxin load, and oxidative stress. Does this make Biopeak a unique company in the world? Yes, Biopeak is unique both in its scientific architecture and its population focus. It combines multiple high-resolution diagnostic modalities—molecular, functional, and structural—into a unified health intelligence platform. Each individual is paired with a biologist and clinician, and guided through a dynamic health roadmap. What further sets it apart is its South Asia-centric design, which considers the genetic, dietary, cultural, and environmental nuances of this region. Supported by research from institutions like IISc and informed by global best practices, Biopeak is not just another health company—it's a systems-level rethink of what human health can be in the 21st century. What's Medicine 4.0? What does it look to solve? What are its basic principles? Medicine 4.0 is the natural evolution of healthcare in the age of AI and high-resolution biology. It's defined by its longitudinal view of health, multisystem diagnostics, real-time feedback loops, and personalised intervention frameworks. It's not about treating symptoms—it's about continuously adapting to the evolving biology of the individual. This approach integrates international technologies, leverages big data with small, precise insights, and focuses on outcomes over time rather than episodic care. In short, it's predictive, participatory, personalised, and preventive. What do you think are the key pillars of the Medicine 4.0 framework as far as BioPeak is concerned? Biopeak leverages data from modern genomics, metabolomics, lipidomics, and metagenomics analytics to provide a molecular view of an individual's unique biology. This integration identifies systemic equilibrium for identifying subtle imbalances and hidden dysfunctions long before symptoms arise. From DXA scans for bone density to functional MRIs and real-time metabolic imaging, Biopeak employs cutting-edge tools that visualise internal systems and structural health markers. Using a hybrid AI approach, combining symbolic AI (for precise, rule-based interpretations) and generative AI (for pattern recognition and predictive modelling), Biopeak can detect complex biological interrelations and generate personalised health insights. What do you think are the limitations of the current health systems worldwide and in India? Globally and in India, health systems remain largely reactive, fragmented, and oriented around acute interventions rather than long-term prevention. There's a heavy focus on managing disease rather than predicting and reversing the conditions that lead to it. What's missing is a systems view—an integration of diagnostics, therapeutics, and lifestyle within a cohesive, continuously updating framework. People are treated as conditions, not as dynamic ecosystems. Long-term biological consequences of current choices are rarely factored into care. The foundation of Medicine 2.0 was built on population averages, with protocols and interventions developed based on data from extensive observational and interventional studies. While this approach helped standardise treatments, it does not account for individual variability. Each person's genetic framework, metabolism, lifestyle, and environment interactions are unique, making the n=1 (individual-first) model essential for true health optimisation. Biopeak is solving for precisely this: unifying the fragmented landscape into an intelligent, longitudinal system centred around the individual.
Hindustan Times
14-06-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Bengaluru climbs to 14th spot in Global Startup Ecosystem Rankings 2025
Bengaluru has jumped seven spots to secure the 14th position in the Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2025, marking a significant rise in its global standing as a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship. According to a report by news agency PTI, the annual report, prepared by Startup Genome, was released on June 12 at VivaTech, Europe's largest startup and tech conference, being held in Paris. Globally, Silicon Valley retains its top rank, followed by New York City, London, and Tel Aviv, with Boston and Beijing tied at fifth place, the report added. (Also Read: Bengaluru woman witnesses rare 'peaceful accident': 'No fights, just handshakes') According to Startup Genome, Bengaluru's leap was largely powered by four major exits exceeding $1 billion in 2024, with alone valued at $12 billion. The report also notes the city's momentum in AI and Big Data, ranking it #5 globally in that category. Karnataka's IT & BT Minister Priyank Kharge said the report highlights a shifting innovation landscape, with emerging Asian and mid-sized hubs making substantial gains. "Bengaluru's leap cements its transition from a 'rising star' to a top-tier global startup hub, placing it shoulder-to-shoulder with global leaders like Paris (#12), Philadelphia (#13), and **Seattle (#15),' he noted in a statement. The minister attributed the city's rise to a combination of high-value exits, a thriving Deep Tech and AI ecosystem, sectoral consistency, progressive policy, and public investment, alongside a world-class tech talent pool. Startup Genome's 13th annual report is based on data from over five million companies across 350+ cities, and ranks the Top 40 global ecosystems and Top 100 emerging ecosystems. It also analyses innovation trends, investment flows, and policy frameworks worldwide. In Bengaluru, Fintech, Life Sciences, and Cleantech were identified as standout sectors thanks to a dense talent pool, strong infrastructure, and robust startup activity. The Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM), which partnered with Startup Genome, pointed to the city's structural advantages: successful startup scale-ups like Flipkart and Swiggy, major fundraises like Zepto's $350 million round in 2024, and government investments including $48 million in deep tech and Fund of Funds initiatives. New government-backed initiatives such as ELEVATE 2024 and the Karnataka Accelerator Network are also supporting the state's ambitions to become a global innovation leader. 'Bengaluru's dynamic startup ecosystem, backed by strong government support, global capital, and rising sectors like manufacturing, is propelling Karnataka onto the global map as a premier destination for innovation and entrepreneurship,' said Prashanth Prakash, Chairman of the Startup Vision Group and Founding Partner at Accel. In a parallel development, Pune made a notable jump in the Emerging Ecosystems Ranking (Top 100), climbing from the 91–100 range in 2024 to the 41–50 range this year. The city saw a major exit with being acquired for $2.8 billion. (With PTI inputs)
New Indian Express
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New Indian Express
Dinner for a Dream
Bengaluru Dinner for a Dream Blending fine dining with the noble cause of building an art village, ArtMantram hosted DrishyAM Yatra, an exclusive black tie dinner, with live performances by MoonArra, a professional jazz band, a fireside chat with art curator Bose Krishnamachari and philanthropist Prashanth Prakash, an art auction, and an elegant dinner. Among the attendees were several prominent Bengalureans such as managing trustee at ArtMantram and South India's first female IPS officer Jija Harisingh, director of The Bangalore School of Music MR Jagadeesh, city-based artists Gurudas and Rakhee Shenoy, three time Grammy winning musician Ricky Kej, and others.
