Varun Turlapati does not stay where he is no longer learning. The moment a role becomes routine, he seeks the next challenge and pushes himself to explore unfamiliar territory to keep growing. That drive to avoid stagnation has defined his career and taken him from software engineering into venture capital, a field he did not even know existed until 2015. Over the next decade, Turlapati carved his own path by learning by doing and embracing risk. His dedication and passion led to the creation of Chaanakya Capital, a company that invests in transformative neurotech and neuro-focused medtech startups. The name was inspired by an ancient Indian philosopher and strategist whose work, the Arthashastra, translates to “the science and technique of wealth”. For Turlapati, that legacy reflects a way of investing that is disciplined, strategic, and grounded in long-term thinking. Turlapati is focused on neurotechnology, where he believes in backing a future in which understanding the brain could reshape how medicine is practiced. The field of neurotech is a space many investors avoid because the science is complex, the timelines are long, and the technical risks are real. But Varun Turlapati sees that complexity differently. To him, the brain is all-encompassing and expansive. It is the command center behind movement, memory, emotion, and even metabolism, which makes neurotech one of the most important frontiers in healthcare. In this episode, he shares how he built Chaanakya Capital to invest at that edge and why the most meaningful opportunities often live in the places other people are too hesitant to explore.

⚠️ Disclaimer:
This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. The views expressed do not constitute engineering, medical, or financial advice. The technologies and procedures discussed may not be commercially available or suitable for every case. Always consult with a qualified professional

About Our Guest

Varun Turlapati is the Managing Director of Chanakya Capital, an early-stage venture fund focused on neurotechnology and medtech. As an operator-investor, he works closely with founders to translate rigorous scientific research into scalable, real-world solutions. Varun brings nearly two decades of experience in software engineering and product leadership, having held roles ranging from senior engineer to fractional CTO and VP of Engineering advisor. His background spans building and leading technical teams, developing complex systems, and guiding early-stage companies through growth and execution challenges.

In addition to his work at Chanakya Capital, Varun co-founded Astute Crew, a boutique practice focused on neuroengineering, technical diligence, grant support, and founder education. He also serves on multiple boards and collaborates with companies and ecosystems across North America, India, and beyond. His investment philosophy centers on disciplined thinking, continuous learning, and bridging the gap between academia and industry. Through his work, Varun is particularly focused on advancing neurotechnology as a transformative force in medicine, supporting innovations that address complex neurological and systemic diseases. 

Key Takeaways

• Chaanakya Capital is an early-stage fund focused specifically on neurotech device startups, with investment stages ranging from pre-seed through Series A. 
• Varun’s interest in venture began when he saw how VCs could shape conversations across technology, business, and product, not just finance.He built his path into venture deliberately, using software engineering roles, side learning, and fellowships to close his own knowledge gaps before launching the fund.
• His first angel investment was in PSYONIC, and the deal was strongly influenced by his wife’s deep neuroengineering background and her confidence in the company’s technical foundation.
• Varun looks for companies that pair scientific depth with real-world commercial and clinical traction, not just interesting technology. He argues that neurotech is still underappreciated, and that the best time to invest is before the category becomes obvious to everyone else.
• He believes deep tech companies often take longer to mature, but that university incubation, non-dilutive funding, and strong research foundations can make them more investable than they first appear.
• Chaanakya Capital uses expert advisors, scientists, and physicians to triage deal flow and filter out companies that are technically exciting but not yet investable. Varun sees large opportunities in areas like neuroprosthetics, neurostimulation, neuromodulation, Alzheimer’s, ADHD, autism, and hydrocephalus.
• He is especially interested in companies that can show meaningful clinical benefit while also creating an eventual path to broader market expansion, such as industrial robotics or adjacent healthcare applications

Portfolio Themes

• PSYONIC is one of Chaanakya Capital’s most visible investments and exemplifies Varun’s interest in neurotech with crossover potential into robotics. He sees PSYONIC’s ability to train on real human data as an important differentiator that can inform both prosthetic use and robotics applications.
• He also invested in NeuroEM, a company working on Alzheimer ’s-related technology and interventions.
• Another investment, PigPug Health, focuses on ADHD and autism through wearable neurofeedback tools that make testing more comfortable and more usable for children and families.
• Varun highlighted Madison Scientific, which is developing a smart shunt for hydrocephalus patients, as another strong example of practical, high impact neurotech.
• Across the portfolio, he favors products that improve diagnosis, monitoring, or therapy in ways that are clinically meaningful, even when the markets are narrow or the timelines are long.

Resources

🔗 Chaanakya Capital and Varun Turlapati

• Varun Turlapati on LinkedIn
• Chaanakya Capital Official Website
• Chaanakya Capital on LinkedIn

🔗 Portfolio and Related Companies

• PSYONIC official website
• PSYONIC on LinkedIn
• NeuroEM Therapeutics
• PigPug Health
• Madison Scientific

🔗  Foundational Reading on Neurotechnology

• Neurotechnology market update
• Venture capital funding for brain-computer interfaces
• Brain computer interface investors in 2026
• Neurotechnology market overview

🔗 Strategy and Philosophy

• The Arthashastra overview
• Chanakya and ancient Indian strategy
• Long-term investing and venture decision-making
• Books on Arthashastra

The post Episode #110 | Neurotech Investing With Varun Turlapati, Chaanakya Capital appeared first on 3DHeals.

By Eric Barnes, AuntMinnie.com staff writer

This article was originally published on AuntMinnie.com on April 21st, 2017.

VC Panelists @ Startup Pitch Competition, 3DHEALS2017, San Francisco

April 21, 2017 — SAN FRANCISCO – Start-ups are hard enough in any field, but medical device start-ups — including 3D printing hopefuls — require extra helpings of dedication and persistence to succeed, according to experts speaking April 20 at the 3DHeals 2017 conference.
Advice about entrepreneurship in 3D printing was dispensed throughout the day from people who had mostly succeeded in their own goals of establishing firms that offer 3D printing services and products that are now in demand. The products include everything from customized breathing masks for sleep apnea patients to replacement limbs for amputees to engineered biological tissues for drug testing.
Dr. Yan Chow, who served as national chief innovation medical officer with Kaiser Permanente for eight years before joining the pharmaceutical firm Amgen, spoke about 3D start-ups from the viewpoint of an equipment buyer interviewing a new technology developer looking for customers. Based on his experience, Chow said he had identified some common patterns and problems with the developers’ approaches.
Getting the question right
“What problem are you trying to solve?” is a key question for entrepreneurs, Chow said. “In the 2,000 start-ups we saw, a lot of them didn’t know what problem they were trying to solve.”

Showing your prowess
The team behind the start-up is important, and it needs to show its healthcare prowess. Are there critical gaps in the team makeup? Maybe the start-up boasts a great team that includes a medical school professor and an engineer from a top-flight university such as Stanford — but its potential customer comes from the University of California, Berkeley.
You can’t know your customer too well, Chow said. And human skills are extremely important for success.
“When you go to meet somebody, a lot of it is decided in 10 minutes,” he said. “Do they like you and trust you?”
The start-up won’t have or be able to afford all the expertise it needs. But does it have resources in place to scale up quickly, if needed?
Evidence matters
Technology buyers also ask whether there is evidence to back up claims. Maybe your tiny firm hasn’t found a sponsor for a clinical study yet; however, the executive team must prepare for the question by doing its homework. That means at least talking to potential study sponsors and taking definitive steps toward getting evidence to support the product.
Evidence matters “because in healthcare the stakes are very high — life or death, in fact — and the regulatory barriers are formidable,” Chow said. “Many healthcare start-ups underestimate the barriers. New technology poses a couple of problems: one, that there’s no track record, and two, that there’s no agreement on what constitutes success and how it should be measured. These are not small issues.”
Is your product HIPAA compliant? Do you have 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to demonstrate your product’s safety and efficacy? With regard to electronic records and signatures, are you compliant with FDA Title 21, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 11? Are you protecting your patents at every stage of product development?
Along with the layers of formal regulation are the informal ones, such as community standards of practice and peer-reviewed literature, that cannot be overlooked, Chow said.
Finally, who’s going to pay for your technology? Has the company lined up insurers ready to reimburse for its use pending 510(k) clearance? Offering an example from the pharmaceutical industry, Chow said one manufacturer is offering a risk-sharing scheme, wherein patients and payors can get their money back if a drug doesn’t work.
What are other ways to reduce downside risk? Prepare the answers before the pitch, he said.
Find the star players
As for team building, panelist Leslie Karpas, founder and CEO of custom medical 3D design firm Metamason, said an important win for her firm was securing a principal at a leading healthcare firm to serve as medical director.
This individual “knows all of the major players in the space, all the major points of sale, and all the former executives from all the big companies that are in retirement mode that we’re now trying to hit up for funding,” he said.
Another key hire was a former director of clinical affairs from another large firm, who is writing Metamason’s clinical protocols.
“You can hang yourself with clinical protocols really quickly if you’re not careful,” Karpas said. “We ended up scrapping ours and rewriting them a number of times because once you are in a trial, whatever you test is what you get. So if you don’t frame the questions in a really neutral way, you can try to prove something that’s unprovable, even though there are a lot of other quality elements to what you’re doing, and then trap yourself. ”
How does a small start-up face the monumental tasks of sorting out regulations, building a team, and trying to obtain financing?
Get a doctor on your team who has a friendly relationship with an institutional review board (IRB) and is able to get approval to try prototypes in patients, Karpas said. Having a doctor who knows doctors who can help in arranging prototype testing can save a lot of time.
Your team should also have an experienced grant writer, which can be contracted out, and your doctor should be experienced in writing clinical trial proposals, preferably from an academic setting, Chow said. This is important because the protocols for the trial, once submitted, are set in stone.
“For us, we had to look at what we needed and what we could afford. We needed a lot, and we had almost nothing,” said Dr. Chris Hart, founder of Australia-based 3D firm Oventus.
Spending precious money on consultants with network contacts can be a smart move if they save you time and effort — and you can take their advice or ignore it, Hart said. Spending on intellectual property patents can also be a wise use of scarce resources. When you need far more than you have, you can also hand out stock options to get the people you need.
All of the panelists agreed that very small firms can save a lot of grief by partnering with a big player.

Collage: 3DHEALS2017

The post 3DHeals: 3D printing start-ups demand skill, persistence appeared first on 3DHeals.