Peak XV Partners Managing Director Rajan Anandan projects India as a leading global market for startup listings, targeting 25-30 AI unicorns by 2030. While the IPO pipeline remains active, investors should track the structural challenges in R&D funding and the shift toward deep-tech profitability.
Peak XV Partners, a venture capital firm managing over $9 billion across 13 funds, has signaled a long-term bullish outlook for the Indian startup ecosystem. According to Managing Director Rajan Anandan, India is currently evolving into one of the world's most active markets for startup initial public offerings (IPOs). The firm has a track record of taking 38 companies to market since its inception, including a notable performance in 2025 when five portfolio companies completed their listings within five weeks.
Transition to Deep Tech and AI
The nature of the Indian startup pipeline is shifting. While the market previously favored consumer-facing businesses, current investment and growth strategies are pivoting toward artificial intelligence, robotics, space technology, and deep tech. This trend is visible in initiatives like Peak XV’s 'Surge' program, which focuses on early-stage ventures in these sectors and recently raised its investment ceiling to $5 million in September 2026. Anandan expects this focus to result in the emergence of 25-30 AI-focused unicorns by 2030. For investors, this represents a transition from high-burn consumption models to companies that aim to build cost-effective, locally tailored technology solutions.
The R&D Funding Challenge
Despite the optimistic growth projections, a significant structural hurdle remains in research and development funding. India currently spends approximately 0.65% of its GDP on R&D, a figure that lags behind major global economies like the United States at 3.5% and China at 2.5%. Anandan notes that this annual spend may need to scale toward $100 billion to ensure Indian startups can compete globally in the long term. While government initiatives like the ₹1 lakh crore RDI Fund are designed to bridge this gap by encouraging private sector participation, the transition from seed-stage innovation to scalable, profitable public entities remains an execution-heavy process.
What Investors Should Monitor
For the Indian public market, the success of these future IPOs will depend on more than just the volume of listings. Investors may track whether these emerging deep-tech and AI companies can demonstrate consistent profitability and sustainable valuations before hitting the public markets. Market volatility often impacts IPO pricing, but the underlying business viability—specifically the ability to secure compute power and manage research costs—will likely be the defining factor for long-term shareholder value. The next critical development to watch will be how government-supported R&D grants actually influence the commercialization timelines for these new-age technology firms.