Shailaja Shukla Williams

Insights @ IIMA Ventures | Researcher | Climate Tech | Startups
Talk to me about #climatetech #entrepreneurship #sectorlandscapes #theatre

[Chenthil @jcrajan00]

Google just got a DISCOM licence for its Vizag data centre hub.

Read that again. Google. Got an electricity distribution licence. In India.

For the first time, a tech giant is not just a customer of the grid. It is a regulated utility. The same legal authority that lets Tata Power sell electricity to a Mumbai apartment now lets Google supply its own data centre.

This is not a story about cheap power. This is a story about who controls infrastructure. Vizag is going to host hyperscale AI workloads — single buildings drawing more electricity than entire small towns. The traditional DISCOM model assumed customers and utilities were separate. AI workloads broke that assumption.

Also note who quietly approved this: Andhra Pradesh. The state betting hardest on data centre investment is also the one rewriting the regulatory book.

The next time someone tells you data centres are 'just servers,' remind them they now come with their own utility licence.

[IIMA Ventures @IIMAVentures]

Early access here:
Indian Spacetech Playbook: What startups should build- https://t.co/FylqSpKpQZ

[IIMA Ventures @IIMAVentures]

Going live tomorrow 8pm - on everything SpaceTech with @etherealxguild’s founder Manu & @prof_nithiya

Not only will you hear the monumental engineering problems our startups are solving, but also some of the problem statements that can create exponential value.

Set a reminder! You dont want to miss this.
https://t.co/WKKo0TqU1H

[IIMA Ventures @IIMAVentures]

Did you know that a temperature sensor on the James Webb Space Telescope costs 10,000x more than a commercial temperature sensor. Ever wondered why? Watch the video to find out!

SpaceTech is full of such insane stories where these engineers & designers are akin to magicians who make the impossible a reality.

Stay tuned for the launch!

[WRI India @WRIIndia]

At a workshop co-organised by Department of Department of HSS - IIT Tirupati and WRI India, challenges on cooling data centres came into focus.

As AI drives growth, conversations include water stress, land use, and wider environmental impacts.

#DataCentre #DigitalFuture

[Shailaja Shukla Williams @depthnothype]

Startup & investors’ relationship is like an arranged marriage, you have plenty of time to get to know each other and make it work. But if & when things don’t work out it is likely to end in a very expensive divorce!

My QOTD at the #PeopleandCulture accelerator @lightfooting101

[Shailaja Shukla Williams @depthnothype]

@NASA @chartingchange_ around the moon

[Shailaja Shukla Williams @depthnothype]

Welp!!

Moving from water stressed to water scarce….

As seen on the India Cliamte and Energy Dashboard by @NITIAayog

[Shailaja Shukla Williams @depthnothype]

To further your point Gaurav @happy_tweets5

[Sushant Singh @SushantSin]

This is in India's national capital. Imagine the situation elsewhere.

[Shailaja Shukla Williams @depthnothype]

#TheBoilingBrief

Last year, @happy_tweets5 and I were planning on a new series and the running title was 'The Boiling Brief'

It would have been apt

@WMO report says, "past three years are the three warmest years in the 176‑year combined land and ocean observational record"🔥

[Shailaja Shukla Williams @depthnothype]

3/3 That's exactly what we've been building at IIMA Ventures for nearly a decade. Sector research, founder toolkits, cases from the frontier — deeptech, climate, fintech, and more.

All of it, open access.

It's all here: https://t.co/OVPtPmRQWt

[Shailaja Shukla Williams @depthnothype]

1/3 Everyone said nobody reads anymore.

Then India became the fastest-growing book market in the world — leading 18 global territories in book revenue growth in 2024. Gen Z, of all generations, is driving it. Screen fatigue is real.

This isn't nostalgia. It's a correction.

[Shailaja Shukla Williams @depthnothype]

2/3 When information is relentless and the noise deafening, people don't stop seeking depth - they just get more deliberate about where they find it.

The demand for depth is growing. And it's not just books. It's research, it's data, it's stories from people doing the hard work

[IIMA Ventures @IIMAVentures]

What if your summer was spent building AI at the @IIMAhmedabad campus? A 4–6 week residency for STEM undergrads to work on real AI problem statements and build MVPs. Apply now: https://t.co/9QQH1XvxAe

[IIMA Ventures @IIMAVentures]

BuildforHer is our response to a critical question: how do we make formal financial services for women more accessible, and build a friction-free pathway for greater financial agency?

At IIMA Ventures, advancing women-centric financial products has long been part of our design approach.

Supported by the Gates Foundation, the BuildforHer forum marks its two-year milestone today. Over this period, we have hosted 20+ experts and built a growing community of 450+ individuals shaping conversations around accessibility and deployment.

You can explore the sessions from the forum here: https://t.co/a6vavjMP8T

[IIMA Ventures @IIMAVentures]

Read the full study here - https://t.co/qXQXgrDXoJ

[Shailaja Shukla Williams @depthnothype]

@mattern_patch BSF camels FTW

[Shailaja Shukla Williams @depthnothype]

“The first time your brain lied to you was the second time you opened your eyes.” -Patrick House, Nineteen Ways of Looking at Consciousness

Finally getting around to reading this precious gift from T

P.S. Found this hidden gem inside (image)

[IIMA Ventures @IIMAVentures]

An important milestone for IIMA Ventures with the inauguration of the NIDHI–Centre of Excellence for Innovation and Entrepreneurship by @DrJitendraSingh, Honourable Minister of Science & Technology, Government of IndiaIn.

The Centre of Excellence will support the creation of world-class incubation infrastructure spanning over 59,000 square feet, with a clear mandate to translate academic research into real-world entrepreneurial impact.

In his keynote address at the IIMA Ventures Summit, Dr. Jitendra Singh, alongside Prof. Bharat Bhasker, Director, @IIMAhmedabad , spoke about India’s transition over the past decade from being a technology adopter to becoming a technology leader.

[Fourth Partner Energy @4PEL_Energy]

It was a power-packed #paneldiscussion indeed at the recently held @IIMAVentures Summit. Our co-founder and ED Vivek Subramanian recently joined an esteemed panel of #entrepreneurs, industry leaders & policymakers to discuss how #India generates, stores, and consumes power.