Indian AI startups pitch for funds from venture capitalists in US: Anirudh Arun

More Indian startups in the artificial intelligence sector are raising funds from the US where investors have taken note of a good rate of return on investments and the Government of India's drive to develop advanced technologies both for the domestic and international markets, an AI startup said.

"We are seeing an increasing number of Indian AI companies pitching for funds in San Francisco, where venture capitalists and equity investors have been closely monitoring the potential of innovations created in India," said Anirudh Arun, CEO and Founder of Agentic Universe, a Bangalore-based AI company focused on banking, finance services and insurance (BFSI) products.

He has also called for more support from Indian venture capitalists, especially to help Indian startups raise funds and go global.


"Our applications are appreciated in the global markets, and investing in India also offers investors a good rate of return," he highlighted.

Arun pointed out that the Indian government-initiated AI Mission, incentives, and campaigns like "Make for the World" strongly support innovations created in India for both large domestic and international markets.

Agentic Universe, among leading Indian startups working on AI applications, is expected to complete USD10 million second fund raising by end of this year for scaling its capacity.

"We are already running out of cloud capacity, and the new fund is to scale infrastructure for global enterprises," said 23-year-old Arun who has spent three years on building his startup on USD165,000 raised as seed money in 2023.

"We are trailing demand amidst growing markets driven by technology upgrades and AI-adoption by enterprises," said the Manipal University minted technologist who sees Indian tech groups increasing collaborations with Silicon Valley and American funds.

"Our domestic and global markets are set for double-digit growths while we are accelerating AI development programs to cope with demands," he said of AI business prospects given the latest AI applications will be transforming the global economy in the coming decade.

Speaking at SuperAI 2026 over the weekend, Arun believes the current geopolitical issues are short-term and MNCs will use the most advanced technologies to accelerate plans to rebuild global economies despite the West Asia conflict.

Over 700+ startups applied, 10 pitched, five made it to the final at the exhibition and conference held June 10-11 attended by 10,000 trade visitors.