Indian investors are showing a strong interest in generative AI startups, with funding seeing a massive surge in recent years. As of the first half of 2024, total funding for GenAI startups in India reached $760 million, a significant increase from 2021.
In 2023 alone, AI startups in India raised $91.7 million, compared to $29.6 million in the same period the previous year. So far, Indian generative AI startups have secured over $590 million in private investments, with approximately 70% of the total funding being raised in 2022.
Investor appetite is growing as fund managers pursue companies developing real-world AI use cases. Marquee investors like SoftBank and Antler are actively backing Indian AI startups.
Notably, there’s been a shift in funding, with more capital now directed toward enterprise AI platforms, as opposed to application-based startups, compared to 2023. In the US, over 50% of the funding in the first half of 2024 went to foundation model startups.
Interestingly, Bengaluru stands out …