The artificial intelligence boom has cemented US and Chinese tech dominance and created fortunes across North Asia’s chip supply chain. Now, India’s billionaire family offices and wealthy investors are betting on homegrown startups to gain ground in the global AI race.
Google Inc., Amazon.com Inc and Microsoft Corp. have separately announced about $45 billion of data-center investments in India.
“India adapts and adopts new technologies much faster than most developed countries,” said Damani of Artha Venture Fund. “I have no doubts that we will also catch up quickly when it comes to AI applications and adoption.”
India still faces a significant funding shortfall. That has left an opening for billionaire families, conglomerates and venture investors to fund a homegrown AI industry. The growing appetite from family offices and wealthy investors is helping India build a new generation of AI companies.
Private investment in its AI economy totaled more than $15 billion between 2013 and 2025, according to Stanford University’s AI Index Report. This compared with $757 billion investment in the US and nearly $132 billion in China’s AI ecosystem. Uniphore, which builds AI models and applications, was valued at $2.5 billion last year after a $260 million late-stage funding round backed by chip makers Nvidia Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc., among others. Founders Umesh Sachdev and Ravi Saraogi teamed up at the IIT Madras and started the company in 2008 before moving its headquarters to Palo Alto, California.
The investment firm’s portfolio ranges from multibillion-dollar AI and technology platforms globally such as Databricks and Canva to generative-AI startups Spotdraft and Writer, according to Tracxn. But as a lower-middle-income economy, it faces constraints on capital, computing infrastructure, specialized research talent and other resources, according to a report by the World Bank Group.
