India
Venture Center Hosts Dr. Anand Deshpande; Deeptech Founder Stories Featured in Launch of CanDid Vol. 2: Venture Center hosted an engaging evening on 22 May 2026, featuring Dr. Anand Deshpande, Founder, Chairman and Managing Director of Persistent Systems, for a talk on “Scaling Technology Startups,” followed by the launch of CanDid Vol. 2 authored by N. Ramakrishnan.
Drawing from decades of experience building Persistent Systems into a globally recognized technology enterprise, Dr. Deshpande shared insights on scaling innovation-led ventures, building strong teams and culture, identifying market needs, and sustaining long-term growth.
“Customers don’t buy technology; they buy a solution to a problem,” said Dr. Deshpande during the session, emphasizing the importance of problem-solving and customer understanding in technology entrepreneurship.
Using examples from companies such as Paper Boat and GE Healthcare, Dr. Deshpande reflected on how successful ventures are often built not merely around technology, but around a nuanced understanding of customer needs, behavior, and context. He also highlighted the importance of culture and purpose in building enduring organizations.
“If you want to create a team, you need a mountain to create the team. People want to work for the problem you have, the mission, the purpose,” he remarked.
Apart from leading Persistent Systems, Dr. Deshpande currently serves as the Co-Chair of BRIC (Biotechnology Research and Innovation Council), Government of India, and has actively supported scientist-led and deeptech entrepreneurship initiatives in the country.
The evening also marked the launch of CanDid Vol. 2, Venture Center’s latest publication featuring 15 founder journeys from across the deeptech and science-led startup ecosystem. Authored by senior journalist N. Ramakrishnan, the volume brings together ventures spanning healthcare, sustainability, energy, engineering, agriculture, robotics, materials science, mobility, and other emerging technology domains.
Dr. Premnath Venugopalan, Founder and Director, Venture Center, described CanDid as “a candid account of selected deeptech startups from the Venture Center family.” He added, “The book aims to inspire the next generation of scientist entrepreneurs while capturing the grit, perseverance, and realities of building deeptech startups in India.”
The event also marked the introduction of CanDid Conversations, a podcast series extending these founder stories and ecosystem conversations beyond the pages of the book. The book is authored by N Ramakrishnan and published by
CanDid is the first-of-its-kind compilation of the human stories of grit, perseverance and determination of India’s upcoming science based entrepreneurs who have ventured beyond conventional pathways to bring their ideas to life. Nurtured at Venture Center, these entrepreneurs share their triumphs and relatable struggles through real life instances, proving that with passion, perseverance, and the right support, turning ideas into reality is within reach.
CanDid Vol. 1 was launched on 18 December 2023.
CanDid Vol. 2 was launced on 22 May 2026.
Stories featured in CanDid:
The stories featured in CanDid are not just about technology, startup milestones, or successes. They are about people choosing unconventional paths, navigating uncertainty, and building something meaningful over time. As the CanDid series continues to grow through books and conversations, we hope it inspires many more entrepreneurial journeys.
Venture Center is a national award winning deep tech and science-based business incubator approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt of India. It aims to nucleate and nurture knowledge based enterprises. It does this by creating and maintaining a rich and supportive ecosystem for inventive enterprises that includes a large mentor network, funding options including seed funds and CSR grants, scientific/ analytical/ prototyping facilities, specialized advisory capabilities, numerous events etc. It empowers scientists, engineers, clinicians and other knowledge workers to take their ideas from lab to market.
It is structured as an independent, non-profit company and charitable organization that is hosted by CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Pune. Venture Center was founded in 2007, and is recognized and supported by DST-NSTEDB and BIRAC. Venture Center has been recognized with the National Award for Technology Business Incubators (2015), AABI (Asian) Incubator of the Year Award (2018), National Entrepreneurship Award under Ecosystem Builder Category (2019), Biospectrum No 1 Bioincubator of India (2022), National Award for Incubators for Nurturing IP (2021 & 2022), “Incubator of the Year” award from the Pune Management Association and most recently the inaugural CII-AMTZ MedTech Quality Champion Awards 2024 at the 32nd Excellence Summit(2024).
