By:- Vikram Gupta, Founder and Managing Partner, IvyCap Ventures
“This Budget marks a quiet but consequential shift in India’s startup and venture ecosystem through institution-building systems.The emphasis is clearly shifting away from app-led growth towards building real national capabilities across deeptech, manufacturing, biopharma, semiconductors, critical minerals and capital goods. In doing so, the Budget brings patient capital firmly into alignment with long-term policy priorities. At the same time, MSMEs are being reframed from pure credit consumers to equity-ready businesses, supported by growth funds, securitisation mechanisms and compliance enablement opening up a new set of platform and roll-up opportunities that have largely gone unnoticed. Infrastructure is no longer just a government spend line; it is becoming a fertile ground for infra-tech, logistics-tech, climate-tech, and execution-led B2G startups. AI, too, runs through the Budget not as hype, but as foundational plumbing across agriculture, healthcare, compliance, customs, and skilling, favouring AI-enabled operators. Services are being re-architected to build cash-flow-positive, globally scalable businesses, while reduced friction through tax simplification and decriminalisation improves founder operating leverage and capital efficiency. The real shift is this: India is no longer just supporting startups—it is deliberately building the conditions that produce them. This is not a momentum Budget; it is an institution-building one. And for founders and investors who think in decades rather than funding cycles, this is where the next chapter is being written.”
