C-CAMP gets Rs 500 crore from RDI Fund to back deeptech start-ups

The Bengaluru-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP) has been picked as one of five Focused Research Organisations under the Centre's Rs 1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund, with Rs 500 crore earmarked for it to back deeptech start-ups. The selection was reported on October 16, 2026. C-CAMP, which works under the Department of Biotechnology, said it is the only dedicated biotechnology organisation among the first 19 fund managers chosen under the scheme, and that it plans to raise the pool to more than Rs 1,000 crore with private investors.

Deeptech start-ups, which build products from new science such as new medicines, crop technologies or advanced materials, often struggle to raise money in India. Their products can take many years to reach the market, and ordinary venture investors usually prefer software businesses that grow faster. The RDI Fund was created to fill this gap with long-term public money that brings private money along with it.

The scheme does not hand money straight to most start-ups. Instead, the fund backs "second-level fund managers", which then choose the companies. Each of these managers is expected to raise private capital equal to what the RDI Fund puts in. The fund itself is run by an independent unit inside the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), under the Department of Science and Technology. The first call for fund-manager applications was opened in January 2026, and proposals passed through the ANRF Executive Council before the senior officials' group approved them.

The selection of C-CAMP matters because life sciences are among the slowest and costliest areas for new companies. A biotech founder may need years of laboratory work and trials before earning any revenue. C-CAMP has run a start-up incubator in Bengaluru for years and already supports a portfolio of young companies. Two of them, Eyestem Research and Peptris Technologies, are among the 22 start-ups the RDI Fund has supported so far through direct project funding, according to C-CAMP.

The TRL 4 condition is important for founders. Technology Readiness Level is a scale from 1 to 9 that measures how close an idea is to a working product. Level 1 is basic research; level 4 roughly means the technology has been shown to work in a laboratory setting. So this money is not for raw ideas. It is for teams that have moved past the first proof and need funds to build, test and scale.

Short-term: Start-ups in biotech, agri-tech, food and environment technology that are at TRL 4 or above can expect a new source of funding through C-CAMP once its consortium is set up. The sources do not yet give an application date or process for start-ups, so founders should watch announcements from C-CAMP and the RDI Fund.

Long-term: If the fund managers raise matching private money as planned, the first cohort alone could bring in a similar amount from private investors on top of the Rs 7,131 crore. The RDI Fund has said it will keep inviting applications and add more fund-manager cohorts, which could widen the routes to money for research-based companies across the country.

Who is affected: Deeptech and life-science founders, including those working out of university and research-institute incubators outside the big cities; scientists who want to turn research into products; private investors who may co-invest with the fund managers; and farmers, patients and consumers who would use the products if they reach the market.

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