Venture capital hunts for India’s next big consumer AI champion
Many companies received early stage checks this year. In August, AI-powered entertainment company Dashverse raised $13 million from Peak XV, with participation from Stellaris and Z47. Audio and video content platform Kuku FM raised $85 million from Granite Asia in October. Housing.com’s former chief executive Jason Kothari’s startup Mythik also received $15 million in May from Sakal Media Group, VC Grid, Viscera Capital, as well as Shah Rukh Khan’s family office. And that’s just content creation as a field.
According to social media intelligence firm Meltwater, Indians spend an average of seven hours a day accessing various services and products on the internet. Time spent increased by five minutes compared to 2024. Mobile devices account for 58% of time spent online. “With more time spent on phones and more people coming online, consumer AI companies will have larger markets to pursue,” said Anant Vidur Puri, partner at Bessemer Venture Partners.
On the edtech side, English language learning startup SpeakX, led by WestBridge Capital, raised $16 million; Personalized learning company Arivihan raised $4.17 million from Prosus Ventures and Accel. Stimuler, the primary voice teacher for English as a second language, has raised $3.75 million in pre-Series A funding from Lightspeed Venture Partners, SWC Global, and others. Seekho also raised $28 million from Bessemer Venture Partners.
Funds like Stellaris and Bessemer are actively exploring AI-led consumer technology companies. “There are opportunities in every space, from education technology to financial services, healthcare travel and even content,” said Rahul Chowdhri, partner at Stellaris Venture Partners. “Wherever there have traditionally been purely digital experiences, AI can play an interesting role here.”
There are 1.8 billion people around the world who use consumer AI at least weekly or monthly, and 600 million of them use it daily, according to a report from San Francisco-based venture fund Menlo Ventures. Likewise, $12.1 billion was spent on consumer AI tools, but most of that goes to general AI assistants. More importantly, only 3% of 1.8 billion users actually pay for AI services, and the vast majority rely on free tools. The firm noted in its note that there is “a huge opportunity for specialty vehicles that will unlock greater value.”
Some of the consumer AI companies raising money in the US this year include note-taking assistant Fireflies.ai, which reached unicorn status (a valuation of $1 billion or more) following a tender offer and partnership with Perplexity. Krea, a company for prolific AI creators, has raised $47 million in a Series B round led by Bain Capital Ventures. Similarly, AI styling company Alta raised $11 million from Menlo Ventures in its seed round; matchmaking startup Sitch has raised $5 million from M13 and a16z speedrun, as well as a number of angel investors.
Where are the white spaces
Generally, most investment firms are looking for companies that can consolidate in the Indian market before becoming global players. Opportunities in the country are not just in education or content production, but also in health and beauty, e-commerce, travel, productivity and even spirituality.
Content production, in particular, is already on the rise, thanks to large companies. Collective Media Network and JioStar’s AI-generated Mahabharata series shows that it is possible to deliver such content to the masses, but getting it well-received is an entirely different matter.
“Putting an AI-generated series into the mainstream actually rationalizes the fact that AI content can exist,” said Anant Vidur Puri, partner at Bessemer Venture Partners. “In fact, AI content can no longer ‘exist’, it is here to stay and will continue to change the way we produce and consume content.”
The firm’s portfolio company Seekho is contributing its own AI-generated Ramayana content.
Experts say traditional typing will become a thing of the past, especially in a country like India, as upwardly mobile urban consumers who engage with local language content increasingly prefer voice communication. “Just like India is mobile-first rather than desktop-first, there is also room for native and voice AI co-pilots that don’t start with a chat window that requires you to type,” said Hari Balaji, technology advisory partner at EY India.
Betting on the 2026 wave
The number of existing consumer AI companies in India is still very low. Data from startup intelligence platform Tracxn shows that only 14 companies were founded in the AI consumer technology space this year, according to Tracxn. None of them raised any money.
“We are very optimistic about the overall use of consumer AI,” Chowdhri said..“ So far, the number of consumer AI startups Stellaris Venture Partners has evaluated has been low—only 50-75 for the entire year.
This does not mean that such companies do not exist or are not slowly established over time. A report by early-stage investment firm Antler India maps 72 companies across various sectors, although the list is not comprehensive. Some of the notable names include Wysa, Disha, Healthify, Astrosure, Rocket, Figr, Autodraft, Glance, Alle and Puch AI.
There will be a wave of companies raising money in the content space. “Many companies in the content creation space are currently in the process of raising funds, although they are small. We expect many more deals to be announced from funds in the next four months,” said an industry analyst who declined to be named.
But even as these companies scale, questions remain about what makes them unique, especially in terms of applications. What’s stopping a larger player from coming in and consolidating the market with their offerings?
“Even though the $1.5 billion is spent on AI-specific initiatives, with the bulk of it being spent on the application layer, there is no visibility that these companies have the differentiation for me as an investor to confidently say an India-specific company will win,” said Sandeep Murthy, partner at consumer-focused venture capital firm Lightbox Ventures.
