Building Global Capital Corridors for India’s Deep-Tech Future

• Bharat Innovates 2026 will bring together more than 120 startups, investors, researchers and policymakers in Nice, France.
• Over the past year, Pankaj Makkar, Managing Director of Bertelsmann India Investments (BII), has chaired the Core Advisory Committee supporting the initiative.
• Mr.Makkar will participate in a Centre Stage discussion on deep-tech investment alongside global investors and ecosystem leaders.
• Bharat Innovates reflects the growing importance of connecting Indian innovation with global capital, partnerships and markets.

India's innovation ecosystem is entering a new phase.

While the country's first startup wave established India as a global hub for digital entrepreneurship, the next chapter is increasingly being shaped by deep-tech innovation emerging from research institutions, laboratories and engineering-led ventures. Across sectors such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, biotechnology, advanced materials, space technology and next-generation communications, a new generation of companies is building technologies with the potential to create global impact.

Bharat Innovates 2026 is designed to showcase this momentum on an international stage.

Taking place in Nice, France, the initiative will bring together more than 120 startups, investors, researchers, corporates and policymakers, creating opportunities for collaboration, investment and international market access. As part of the India–France Year of Innovation, the event reflects a growing recognition that innovation ecosystems thrive when ideas, capital and expertise move across borders.

BII's Role in the Journey

For Bertelsmann India Investments (BII), Bharat Innovates represents an opportunity to support a platform that is helping strengthen India's position within the global innovation landscape.

Over the past year, Pankaj Makkar, Managing Director of BII, has chaired the Core Advisory Committee supporting Bharat Innovates 2026. Bringing together leaders from Peak XV, Accel, Prosus, Blume Ventures and Avendus, the committee has supported the Government of India's efforts to identify leading startups, engage ecosystem stakeholders and shape one of India's most ambitious international innovation showcases.

The initiative aligns closely with BII's belief that innovation flourishes when founders, investors, researchers and institutions work together to build long-term value. As India's innovation ecosystem continues to mature, creating opportunities for meaningful engagement between these stakeholders becomes increasingly important.

Connecting Innovation with Global Capital

One of the defining questions for India's next generation of deep-tech companies is not whether breakthrough innovation can emerge from India, but how that innovation can access the capital, partnerships and global markets required to scale.

This theme will take centre stage at Bharat Innovates 2026.

Pankaj Makkar will participate in the Centre Stage discussion, Unlocking DeepTech Investment with Global Investors, alongside leaders from Avendus Capital, Sony Innovation Fund, Mizuho Financial Group and Link Innovations. The conversation is expected to explore the opportunities and challenges shaping deep-tech investing and the evolving needs of innovation-led businesses.

For founders building in frontier technology sectors, access to long-term capital, strategic partnerships and global networks will play an increasingly important role in translating research and innovation into sustainable businesses.

An India–France Innovation Moment

Bharat Innovates 2026 will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron, underscoring the growing importance of innovation within the broader India–France relationship.

The event arrives at a time when collaboration between India and Europe is expanding beyond traditional trade and investment into technology, research and entrepreneurship. Increasingly, both regions are exploring how they can work together to accelerate innovation, strengthen research partnerships and support the growth of emerging technologies.

Platforms such as Bharat Innovates create opportunities for these conversations to take place while helping connect founders and innovators with stakeholders from across the global innovation ecosystem.

Looking Ahead

Bharat Innovates is ultimately about more than showcasing technology.

It is about building the connections that help innovation move further and faster — connecting founders with investors, research institutions with industry and local innovation with global opportunity.

For BII, supporting initiatives that strengthen these connections reflects a long-term commitment to the entrepreneurs, technologies and ecosystems shaping the future.

As Bharat Innovates 2026 brings together stakeholders from across government, industry, academia and capital, it will contribute to a broader objective: helping Indian innovation engage more deeply with the global economy and creating new pathways for the next generation of technology-led companies.

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