New Delhi, May 15 -- Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India is actively scouting for hardware and deeptech investments, with a sharp focus on semiconductors, robotics, and battery technology, according to a top executive at the firm.

"It's definitely a new space for us, but it makes sense due to how geopolitics is playing out. In the past two years, companies have been looking to be more independent and move away from relying on China," Ben Mathias, managing partner at the firm, told Mint in an interview.

Vertex Ventures is the latest firm to build a deeptech investment thesis in India, joining a sector buoyed by the growing demand for "sovereign technology". This shift mirrors a global trend: deeptech accounted for 36% of all venture...