India’s artificial intelligence startup world has grown dramatically, with over 150 native AI companies now working across the country. These startups have raised more than $1.5 billion since 2020 and are getting serious money from venture capital firms globally. The top five AI startups stand out not just for how much money they’ve raised, but for actually solving real problems in healthcare, banking, customer service, and building language models that work for Indian languages.
1. Fractal Analytics Moving Toward IPO With Rs 2,750 Crore Revenue
Fractal Analytics is India’s most established AI company and is preparing to become the country’s first AI-focused business to go public. Based in Bengaluru, the company works with Fortune 500 firms across retail, consumer goods, healthcare, and finance. In FY25, Fractal made Rs 2,750 crore in revenue, up 26 percent from the year before. The company is already profitable and making decent margins. Its estimated IPO valuation is over $3.5 billion. Fractal has partnered with OpenAI to deliver AI solutions that cut client costs by up to 30 percent. Its healthcare AI product called Qure.ai treats 15 million patients yearly across 70 countries and is growing at 60-70 percent annually. The company plans to go public within two years.
2. Krutrim Becomes India’s First AI Unicorn
Krutrim, started by Ola’s co-founder Bhavish Aggarwal, became India’s first generative AI unicorn in January 2024 after raising $50 million. The company valued itself at over $1 billion. What makes Krutrim different is that it is building a massive language model specifically for India, essentially creating an Indian version of ChatGPT that understands local languages and Indian context. Rather than copying Western AI tools, Krutrim focuses on understanding regional languages and training on Indian-relevant information. The government backed Krutrim as a key player in building India’s own sovereign AI under the IndiaAI Mission.
3. Sarvam AI Builds Models for Indian Languages With $41 Million Raised
Sarvam AI, started in 2023 by Vivek Raghavan and Pratyush Kumar who founded AI4Bharat, has raised $41 million from investors like Peak XV Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Khosla Ventures. The Bengaluru startup creates language models built specifically for India-focused work and regional Indian languages. In April 2025, the government picked Sarvam AI to build India’s first homegrown sovereign language model as part of the IndiaAI Mission. The startup’s goal is to make AI accessible to everyone in India by creating models that understand local languages, cultures, and business needs better than global tools built for Western markets.
4. Observe.AI Powers Customer Service With $214 Million in Funding
Observe.AI has raised over $214 million, making it one of the most well-funded AI startups from India. The company uses artificial intelligence to help big companies handle customer service and business operations better. With offices across India, the United States, and elsewhere, Observe.AI uses conversation intelligence to improve customer experience, train agents, and ensure rule compliance. The startup competes globally while keeping its technology base in India where talented engineers work at lower costs.
5. Haptik Transforms Customer Conversations Through Reliance Jio
Haptik, now owned by Jio Platforms after Reliance bought it for $100 million in 2019, leads the field in conversational AI for enterprises. Started in Mumbai in 2013, Haptik builds AI chatbots that handle customer questions through voice, chat, and email in multiple languages. During COVID-19, the startup built the world’s largest WhatsApp chatbot that 21 million people used. Its tools like BharatGPT chatbot and Contakt platform answer 90 percent of customer questions automatically, making customers happier and speeding up response times by 10 times for banks and online shops. Major tech rating sites rank Haptik as a leader in conversational AI.
What Makes These Five Different
These five startups share something important: they solve actual business problems instead of just experimenting with AI for fun. Fractal helps companies make better decisions using data. Krutrim and Sarvam build foundational models for India rather than just copying what other countries built. Observe.AI solves the massive problem of customer service. Haptik makes conversational AI cheap and easy for small and medium businesses.
Government support matters a lot here. The IndiaAI Mission gave out Rs 10,372 crore and promised to buy 38,000 GPUs to help startups build foundational models. This support removes big barriers that startups in other countries struggle with. Indian AI startups got over 50 percent of global venture capital in 2025, with generative AI startups alone raising $524 million by July.
These five companies work on different parts of the AI value chain. Together, they show that India is not just copying global AI trends but building its own technology for Indian problems using Indian engineers and resources.
