A 24-year-old founder is moving India’s most ambitious data storage bet to Silicon Valley. Anagha Rajesh is relocating her deep-tech startup BioCompute from Bengaluru to San Francisco. She says India has the talent but lacks the risk-taking ecosystem to back it.
BioCompute is building a new way to store digital data using DNA instead of traditional hardware. The approach uses DNA’s natural ability to hold vast information in tiny space. That makes storage far smaller, more efficient, and far less energy-intensive than current systems.
The startup has already made real progress. Rajesh founded BioCompute in 2024 and raised more than Rs 5 crore from WTF Fund, Grad Capital, and 1517 Fund. Over two years, her team built a lab, ran thousands of experiments, and created an end-to-end prototype. They cut DNA storage cost from Rs 350,000 to just Rs 100 per MB.
Rajesh insists the move is not about talent. She wrote that BioCompute is India’s first lab to chase the audacious problem of DNA storage. But the next phase needs different fuel. Building chips and reaching customers demands deeper capital and bolder bets.
She argues India still plays too safe with deep tech. The market often adapts Western ideas rather than backing frontier hardware. To take on giants like IBM, she says, a company needs an ecosystem built on abundance and high-risk, high-reward thinking.
The decision carries a personal cost too. Rajesh called the goodbye conversations with her Bengaluru team some of her hardest moments. She recently listed office furniture, equipment, and chemicals for sale on LinkedIn.
Her exit reflects a wider trend. More than 100 Indian AI founders have moved or plan to move to the US, drawn by capital, customers, and stronger ecosystems. Rajesh now heads west to build BioCompute’s first chip.
