New Delhi, Dec. 11 -- Lightspeed Venture Partners has stepped up backing for deeptech with India Ascends, a startup accelerator to support entrepreneurs with up to $3 million in seed funding. The venture firm will back more investments in the sector in the coming year, a partner at Lightspeed said, at a time of growing awareness of the potential of core IP in sectors such as aerospace, defence, robotics and AI.

"We want to back companies being built out of India. We don't want founders eventually leaking out to the US, doing a PhD and starting a great company there," said Hemant Mohapatra, partner at Lightspeed. "We'd like them to stay back and give them the opportunity to start a company."

For Lightspeed, deeptech is familiar territory...