'Global-first' Indian-origin AI startups rake in moolah

BENGALURU: A clutch of India-origin AI startups secured significant early-stage funding , attracting marquee global investors. With a global-first approach , these homegrown startups demonstrated early monetisation potential and commanded premium valuations, reflecting growing confidence in their scalability and global relevance.

These AI-native startup deals that TOI learnt about include GigaML, which offers secure on-premise deployment of large language models for enterprise use cases. At a stage of $1-3 million annual recurring revenue (ARR), it raised $40 million led by US-based Redpoint Ventures at a $350 million post-money valuation . Atomicwork, an AI-native alternative to traditional enterprise service desks, secured $25 million in a round that saw participation from Khosla Ventures at a $120 million valuation.

Redpoint Ventures and Khosla Ventures have backed prominent tech companies globally. Other transactions TOI learnt about include Y Combinator-backed Emergent, which raised $20 million led by Lightspeed India at a $90 million valuation. UnifyApps secured $50 million from WestBridge Capital at a $250 million valuation. Confido Health raised $9.3 million from investors such as Blume and DeVc at a $35 million valuation. Composio raised $25 million in a round led by Lightspeed at a $120 million valuation.

Metaforms, at a scale of $1 million, raised $10 million led by Peak XV Partners at a valuation of $50 million. Meanwhile, Weaver AI, at a pre-revenue stage and founded by serial entrepreneur Kushagra Sinha, raised $10-12 million led by First Round Capital at a $70 million valuation. First Round Capital's global portfolio comprises the likes of Notion, Roblox, Square, and Uber. All these native AI deals are India-origin businesses adopting a global-first go-to-market approach.