AI startup Rocket in talks to raise $40-50 million: sources

Rocket, a Surat-based artificial intelligence app-building startup, is in talks to raise $40-50 million at a valuation of about $500 million from investors led by 360 ONE Asset, people aware of the matter said.

The company, earlier known as DhiWise, allows users to build applications from plain-language prompts, placing it among a growing set of AI coding and app-building startups drawing investor interest globally.

The people cited earlier said 360 ONE is expected to invest $20-25 million, with other investors also likely to join the funding round.


If completed at the current terms, the round will mark a sharp re-rating for the company less than a year after it raised $15 million from Salesforce Ventures, Accel and Together Fund at a valuation of around $60 million.

The new capital is expected to be used to deepen Rocket’s AI capabilities, expand product development and grow its global go-to-market presence, they said.

"The key test will be whether it (Rocket) can convert early adoption into durable revenue," said one person.

"The AI app-building market is growing rapidly, but it is also crowded and fast-moving, with competition from specialist startups as well as large model companies," the person said. “Investors are betting that Rocket’s India-built engineering base and global user traction can help it carve out a position in the production-grade app-building segment.”

An email query sent to Rocket remained unanswered, while 360 One declined to comment on the matter.

Founded in 2021 by Vishal Virani, Deepak Dhanak, and Rahul Shingala, the company started as DhiWise, a developer workflow automation platform that helped engineers convert designs into production-ready code. It later pivoted to Rocket, an AI-native product that lets startups, product managers, agencies and enterprise teams build applications using text prompts.

The proposed funding round comes at a time when investors are selectively backing AI companies that are showing early global traction, even as broader startup funding remains concentrated in fewer deals.

Last week, ET reported that early-stage cheques are becoming larger as investors turn more selective and double down on companies showing faster traction. Indian startups raised $3.34 billion across 608 early-stage and seed rounds in the first half of 2026. In comparison, Indian startups had raised about $2.96 billion across 1,055 early-stage and seed rounds in the first half of 2025.

AI coding and app-building tools have become one of the hottest areas within enterprise software, with global companies such as Cursor, Lovable, Bolt and Replit drawing large cheques and premium valuations.

Rocket’s own fundraising story has been closely tied to its pivot. When the company announced its $15 million-round last year, it said it had crossed 400,000 users, including over 10,000 paid subscribers, across 180 countries. It had also said then that it had reached $4.5 million in annual recurring revenue within months of launch.

For 360 ONE, the deal would add to its push into new-age technology investments. The investment firm has been expanding its venture and private equity platform and has been looking at areas such as generative AI, frontier technology, fintech infrastructure and consumer technology.

Sarvam AI recently became a unicorn in a $234-million funding round led by HCLTech, which came in as a strategic investor.