SenseAI Floats $25 Mn Maiden VC Fund To Back Indian AI Startups

SenseAI Ventures, which has consumer healthcare startup CureSkin, corporate management platform Tripeur, data science firm Jovian and conversational Voice AI solution provider Skit as among its portfolio companies, has launched its maiden venture capital fund to invest in Indian artificial intelligence (AI) startups.

The SenseAI Fund I has a target corpus of INR 200 Cr ($25 Mn). 

SenseAI aims to invest in 18-20 AI-first startups from seed to Pre-Series A stages, with plans for follow-on investments in its portfolio companies. This strategy aligns with SenseAI’s commitment to supporting AI-first founders and their solutions, strengthening its role in India’s growing AI landscape, the VC firm said in a statement.

The firm has also roped in tech executive Raja Gopalakrishnan as general partner for the fund.

Founded in 2017, SenseAI Ventures is an AI-focused investment firm. The firm has made four exits and invested in 12 startups across sectors such as AI SaaS (software-as-a-service), AI B2C (business-to-consumer) and AI Tools via its syndicate fund.

“Our approach is beyond capital; as experienced founders and operators we offer bespoke support tailored to the unique needs of each AI-first startup. AI is the single largest value-creation opportunity of our lifetimes….,” said Rahul Agarwalla, cofounder of SenseAI Ventures.

“We will continue to build on the foundation of ‘beyond capital’ providing more than just funding. We offer a partnership that starts with product and technology, fostering a breed of AI startups that are both successful and revolutionary,” said Gopalakrishnan.

As per an Inc42 report, “India’s Generative AI Startup Landscape, 2023”, the generative AI market in India is poised to see a substantial increase from $1.1 Bn in 2023 to over $17 Bn by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 48%.

India currently boasts over 70 generative AI startups. These startups have collectively secured more than $440 Mn in funding between 2019 and the third quarter of 2023.

For the past several years, AI firms in India have been creating waves, while adopting several technology stacks, disrupting the startup landscape. One such initiative is generativeAI (GenAI). GenAl is a type of artificial intelligence technology that can create artefacts such as image, text, audio, video, and various forms of multi-modal content. 

This year also saw Indian startups adopting GenAI to step up their offering and features. For example, Flipkart cofounder Binny Bansal is looking to launch an AI-as-a-service startup, while eyewear brand Lenskart acquired AI-powered analytics startup Tango Eye in October. 

India’s GenAI space has also been gaining traction from global investors. For instance, internet giant Google recently invested $500K in Indian conversational AI startup Corover.

Now, considering the official launch of BharatGPT in the coming weeks, Google is reportedly planning an additional $4 Mn investment in equity.

BharatGPT is an Indian GenAI platform, launched by CoRover.ai, the Conversational AI Platform. It is available across channels in more than 12 Indian languages, in video, voice and text.

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