If it works in India, it can work anywhere: TDK Ventures’ Nicolas Sauvage on building deeptech for the world

Nicolas Sauvage, Founder and President of TDK Ventures, believes that the success of Indian deeptech startups demonstrates that the model can work globally. Over the past five to ten years, India has seen an influx of top scientists choosing to work in startups instead of corporate labs. This trend has led to increased investment in deeptech sectors across the country.

With TDK Ventures being the corporate venture capital arm of Japanese electronics company TDK Corporation, Sauvage oversees a growing ecosystem of Indian deeptech startups. India currently has over 4,200 deeptech startups, which raised $2.3 billion in 2025, marking a 37% increase from the previous year.

TDK Ventures is particularly bullish on three sectors: SpaceTech, AI, and power management technology. The company has already invested in several startups in these areas, such as Ethereal Exploration Guild, which develops reusable medium-lift launch vehicles, and C2i Semiconductors, which builds power management technology for AI data centers.

Sauvage emphasizes the importance of cultural traits like jugaad, or resourcefulness under constraints, which is evident in the capital efficiency of Indian portfolio companies. He advises founders to focus on building a product from the ground up, often starting with a fragmented market and gradually scaling up. TDK Ventures looks for investors who can provide unique support, such as a go-to-market channel, early anchor customers, or hard-to-access suppliers.

By applying first-principles thinking, TDK Ventures has been able to identify promising investment opportunities, such as Groq, an AI chip company that Sauvage recognized would be ahead of the curve in inference technology. This approach has led to successful investments and partnerships with other companies, ultimately helping TDK Ventures build globally significant deeptech companies.