Shastra VC, an early-stage venture capital fund, has launched India’s first Venture Capital-led deep-tech fellowship called SDEX (Shastra Deep-tech Excellence Fellowship). The 16–24 week fellowship aims to turn frontier research from labs into venture-ready startups. SDEX targets top institutions across India including IITs, IISc, IISERs, NITs, IIITs, and national labs. Shastra VC has already invested in 30 startups like Alt Carbon and SISIR Radar. The first SDEX cohort will select up to 15 teams and provide equity-free funding and resources up to $100,000 per fellow. Applications are open to researchers and builders working on cutting-edge deep-tech nationwide. The deadline to apply is January 31, 2026. Interested teams can apply on Shastra VC’s website. Jivesh Madan, SDEX program lead at Shastra VC, said, “India has world-class deep-tech research talent across academic institutions and national labs. What has been missing is early support that turns strong research into venture-ready proof, so that more deep-tech ideas can become investable companies. SDEX is built to bridge that gap by funding early technical validation and providing close mentorship so that the best breakthroughs become companies that matter. We want to meet the researchers pushing boundaries of the frontier and give them a fast and credible on-ramp to real-world impact.” SDEX offers equity-free fellowships and milestone-driven technical sprints, helping promising technologies bridge the gap between lab validation and venture readiness. Avijeet Alagathi, partner at Shastra VC, added, “India’s deep-tech ecosystem is coming of age. Universities, incubators, and national programs are making it easier than ever for research to move from lab to market, and the policy momentum in recent years shows real intent to build global frontier-tech leadership. SDEX fits perfectly into this moment— it creates a VC-led proof-to-venture bridge that helps deep-tech ideas get validated earlier and expands the pipeline of startups that are truly investable.”