From mobility and electronics to infrastructure and energy, advanced materials are enabling a new wave of performance, efficiency, and sustainability. As investors in deep science and emerging technologies, we see them not as a vertical but as a horizontal platform — one that quietly powers progress across industries.In this piece, we define what advanced materials are, explore where and how they’re being adopted, and examine the capital flows accelerating their development.

The venture capital world is placing bigger bets on quantum computing than ever before. In Germany, Q.ANT, a wholly owned subsidiary of the industrial high-tech company TRUMPF, has just closed a €62 million Series A round — Europe's largest funding round for photonic computing. Q.ANT is also leading a consortium that’s secured €50 million in government research grants.

In the world of semiconductors, a lot of attention goes to chip architecture, manufacturing scale-ups, or which companies are pushing the boundaries of performance. But behind all of that is a quiet, critical process that makes modern chips possible: LITHOGRAPHY.

Cybersecurity has always opened new green fields with the introduction of new technologies, from the rise of the internet, which enabled the founding of companies like McAfee, to the advent of cloud computing that paved the way for innovators like CrowdStrike. We stand at the brink of a new era in cybersecurity, driven by innovations in GenAI in the age of Intelligence. This blog covers the key cybersecurity areas that GenAI is poised to disrupt.

For the last two decades, the space industry has been laser-focused on one thing: getting to space cheaper and faster. And we’ve made remarkable progress — launch costs have dropped from $15,000/kg to under $1,500/kg with Falcon Heavy, and even lower with the upcoming Starship. Today, access to space is no longer the bottleneck. But a new bottleneck has emerged. The challenge now is what happens after you get to space. How do you move cargo or humans within space? How do you maintain, repair, and utilize the infrastructure we’re building in orbit? How do you bring back manufactured goods from space economically?

The space industry witnessed a pivotal moment last week when Varda Space Industries announced a solid $187 million Series C funding round. The investment has trained the spotlight on the nascent field of space manufacturing – one that Indian space-tech startups such as Inbound Aerospace, for example, also see as a huge opportunity.

The global transition to renewable energy is at a critical juncture. Given the intermittent nature of energy produced by solar and wind, it is essential to incorporate energy storage solutions to unlock their full potential. The need for robust, long-duration energy storage (LDES) has never been more urgent.

The global energy landscape is undergoing a profound transformation, driven by the urgent need to address climate change and the rapid advancement of renewable energy technologies. At the forefront of this revolution is solar energy, which has seen remarkable progress in recent years. As we look towards the future, the potential for solar to meet the world's growing energy demands is more promising than ever, particularly with the emergence of newer technologies like perovskite solar cells and tandem architectures.

The world is changing, and so are the problems we're trying to solve. As we move closer to achieving Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), we are also making unprecedented strides in tackling fundamental diseases that have plagued humanity for centuries.

As the foundation of modern electronics, semiconductors are vital to innovation and economic resilience. The need for a resilient and localized supply chain has never been more apparent, especially in India, where the demand for indigenous innovation in chip design and manufacturing is surging. At Speciale Invest, we believe in empowering startups that challenge norms and redefine possibilities. Having seen the journey of Mindgrove Technologies from early 2022, even before their pre-seed round which we also invested in, we are super excited to double down on our conviction in the vision of Shashwath and Sharan to build chips from India, for India and for the world

Photonics, the science and technology of light, is on the cusp of revolutionizing computing as we know it. While not a new concept, recent advancements and the limitations of traditional silicon-based electronics have thrust photonics into the limelight.

Nuclear Fusion is, without question, the ultimate pinnacle of DeepTechnologies with the potential to exponentially alter the course of humanity once and for all. While the world doubles down on private fusion in a bid for infinite energy, we are proud to champion India’s First Fusion Company in Anubal Fusion. We are beyond excited for the future!

"The brain is the last and grandest biological frontier, the most complex thing we have yet discovered in our universe."-James D. Watson, co-discoverer of DNA's structure".Three pound organ, which is self conscious, with around 86 billion neurons forming approximately 100 trillion connections has long been a black box in our scientific understanding. The mere complexity it holds has been beyond our comprehension.

The Union Budget for the financial year 2024-25, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, reflects the government's affirmative vision for fostering a progressive and inclusive India. This budget is meticulously crafted to address current economic challenges effectively while establishing a solid foundation for long-term growth and prosperity.

Building manycore, parallel processing, reconfigurable chips for new-age applications in AI, data centres and others

Rise of Autonomous AI Agents: Revolutionizing Software Development and Beyond

Throughout human history, our capacity for innovation has been the driving force behind our progress. From the invention of wheels to AI, we have consistently pushed the boundaries of what's possible. As we solve one set of challenges, we inevitably uncover new, harder puzzles to solve. This perpetual cycle of curiosity and innovation has led us to a new frontier: the world of biology. 

The biopharmaceutical landscape is undergoing a transformative shift, driven by the emergence of platform biotech companies that are redefining the traditional approach to drug discovery, development, and commercialization. These innovative firms leverage cutting-edge technologies and novel business models, offering a promising solution to the challenges faced by conventional biopharma companies.

How can one blend one of the most talked-about industries in technology, "Fintech", with the most prominent policy concern "Climate Change" in the public eye? Climate change poses significant risks to the economy, and fintech solutions can play a crucial role in mitigating these risks. Climate fintech refers to the intersection of climate change and financial technology.

While development is certainly a good thing, focussing on sustainable development is the need of the hour. This cannot be more apparent than in the concrete and cement industry, which produces 8% of global CO2 emissions, more than any country except the US and China. We cannot halt progress: thus, the only option is to decarbonize the concrete industry itself.

One of the greatest video games ever built is Tetris. In Tetris, players complete lines by moving differently shaped pieces descending onto the playing field and proceeding to fill the vacant spaces...

We are excited to announce our partnership with Protecto’s $4M seed round, led by Together fund along with our participation with our friends...

India should be among the first nations to industrialize without…

Open source software (OSS) is undeniably a force for good. And society is yet to value the open-source building blocks...

Taming the Dragon : Unraveling GenAI’s Breakneck Progress

The construction industry has thrived over the past few centuries and has been a cornerstone of economic growth — driving the development of sectors such as transportation, manufacturing, communication...

While some could argue that Carl Sagan only implied the need for space exploration when he said these words that would inspire the next generation of scientists, we think maybe there’s more...

There could possibly be no greater conspiracy theory than the Simulation Hypothesis. It proposes that everything, with the exception of Nothing, is fake and essentially a manipulative alternative reality designed...

Speciale Invest continues to support green hydrogen electrolyzer...

InspeCity raises $1.5M in pre-seed capital to build green propulsion systems, orbital transfer vehicles (OTVs) and in-space servicing & life-extension of satellites...

We’re moving into an “AI first company” era. Have you watched the movie Her? Remember how the protagonist falls in love with an AI? No matter how good the movie, such an occurrence seemed far off...

Ever since the Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the Startup India Initiative to be launched in 2016, the Indian startup ecosystem has advanced significantly. Today, the nation is pleased to have over 89,000 successful companies...

e-TRNL Energy has raised INR 7.5Cr to build next generation cells with a unique 3D Electrode Architecture (3DEA) and manufacturing process that will make cells safer, cheaper, better and greener...

Today we are thrilled to announce our investment in Bluecopa- a connected Financial Operations platform assisting CFOs and Finance leaders make strategic data-driven decisions in a hassle-free, real-time manner...

In the global mission to solve the water crisis, we’re pleased to announce our continued conviction in Uravu Labs in their seed funding…

21st-century SaaS is an evolved engine with companies adopting and defining multiple playbooks that garner success for them in their own…

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” — Leo Tolstoy

The fundamental rule in venture capital is to double down on the winners in your portfolio. This is why we chose to co-lead the $4.5M…

Powering user research for user-centric product decisions.

We at Speciale Invest are thrilled to lead a $1.5M seed round in StreamAlive and partner with the team in their mission to revolutionize…

A slice of the Budget speech -2022 by the Indian Finance Minister Mrs Nirmala Sitharaman focussed on enriching novelty themes related to…

How does one go about explaining quantum computing? Think of that vintage telephone at any of the general stores in Calcutta. Now, put it…

Unleashing the power of video creation and adoption.

Vishesh Rajaram used to be a principal investor at VC firm Ventureast, working with its sixth fund of US$100 million. He quit the role six…