Latest news with #Upekkha
Time of India
3 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Indian startups poised to ride vertical AI opportunity: Report
Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills Indian companies are well-positioned to tap into the vertical AI opportunity, with global spending by enterprises on domain-specific solutions expected to reach $47 billion by 2030, according to a latest current global expenditure for domain-specific AI solutions is $5 billion and is growing at a CAGR of 40%.The report titled 'Vibe50 Emerging Vertical AI Startups,' launched on July 10 by the AI startup accelerator Upekkha, highlighted that Indian companies hold structural advantages rising out of close to 20 years of IT services that have created over 100,000 engineers who understand both US enterprise workflows and Indian operations realities.'They are building vertical AI at a fraction of the cost of Bay Area teams. When you combine it with proven cross-border GTM advantage, you get a machine unmatched,' the report said."The next $10 billion outcomes in AI will come from companies solving real workflow problems in specific industries," the report vertical AI solutions focus on building proprietary platforms and automating entire workflows across industries, such as finance, healthcare, manufacturing, logistics, and of the biggest challenges in the adoption of AI was the lack of clarity on how technology was evolving. 'Not just Indian enterprises, but also those in the US were adopting it slowly,' said Thiyagarajan Maruthavanan, managing partner, Upekkha, addressing media persons during the report launch. That is beginning to change, he said, as more clarity is emerging and companies are opening up their purse revenue growth for AI startups has also been significant, with companies like Anthropic reporting annual revenues of $4 billion, up from $1 billion it reported at the beginning of the report noted that along with enterprise readiness and more clarity, compute cost is going down, resulting in vertical AI adoption across industries. 'Indian startups are uniquely positioned to lead this revolution given their talent density, cost advantages, and global mindset,' the report said.
Time of India
5 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Y Combinator's India cohort shrinks amid local capital reshaping deals, AI focus
Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills The number of Indian startups selected by Silicon Valley's famed accelerator Y Combinator (YC) has plummeted to just four in 2024 from 66 in 2021, marking a sharp decline in participation from one of its most active international markets in recent years, according to information sourced from YC's comes at a time when Indian founders are increasingly opting to remain domiciled locally amid evolving regulatory dynamics and healthy prospects of listing on the domestic stock to industry executives and founders from YC's India portfolio, the decline is driven by multiple factors, including YC's requirement for accepted startups to set up a parent entity in the US, Canada, Singapore, or the Cayman Islands, even if they are originally incorporated is also a growing trend of startups shifting their holding entities to India in preparation for domestic IPOs. This reverse flipping entails paying hefty taxes in the US. Among startups that were part of YC, IPO-bound stock broking platform Groww paid around $160 million in taxes as it flipped its parent entity from the US to India last year, while Razorpay is estimated to have incurred a tax outgo of around $200 million and Meesho is expected to pay around $280-300 reason flagged by founders and investors is that YC is increasingly focusing on deeptech and AI-first startups, many of which require cutting-edge research and are often built around US-based technical talent. This evolving thesis has made it harder for early-stage Indian companies to gain admission, they said.'YC has pulled back a little from India because they were not getting the quality they wanted at the volumes they were seeing in India. There are still a lot of Indian companies which go and apply, but they don't have a separate India strategy now, which is why we are seeing a smaller number of companies selected,' an investor said on the condition of the leadership of OpenAI founder Sam Altman, during the 2014-19 period, YC began to double down on India intakes. This was the time when startups like Meesho, Zepto, Groww, Razorpay became a part of the YC sent to Y Combinator did not elicit a the four Indian startups selected by YC in 2024, three operate in fintech, while one is building B2B AI tools. YC has not selected any new Indian startups in the ongoing batch as of founders now have more domestic seed funding options than ever before. A growing base of early-stage Indian VCs, family offices, institutional investors, and angel investors is helping fill the funding gap once bridged by global accelerators like March, ET reported that India is also witnessing the rise of YC-type accelerators backing AI startups founded by local entrepreneurs. These include Paras Chopra's Lossfunk, a residency programme for AI builders; SaaS platform Upekkha, which pivoted to an AI fund; and Girish Mathrubootham-backed Together Fund, which also launched AI Studio to help founders navigate the AI landscape.'A lot of Indian founders who had gone abroad to raise capital have started flipping their structures back to India. Because they believe that Indian IPO markets are very good for them, because even at smaller sizes, they can actually list in India, which they find otherwise very hard in the US and other markets,' said Vikram Gupta, founder and managing partner of early-stage venture capital firm IvyCap said institutional investors saw a substantial cash return on their investments in Indian startups and VC funds, which led them to investing in other funds as well. This helped to boost the domestic capital regulatory changes such as the abolition of the contentious 'angel tax' have also enabled the growth of domestic spring 2025 batch featured 70 startups focused on agentic AI. The three-month accelerator programme invests $500,000 in each selected startup."With the context of India, YC is now focusing a lot on AI-based startups and when they map the AI story in India versus some of the other geographies like America, it is a matter of fact that American companies are definitely ahead of Indian companies as on date when it comes to adoption and curation of AI models,' said Jitin Bhasin, founder of healthcare fintech startup SaveIn, which was backed by YC in 2023, YC saw a change in its senior leadership with Garry Tan being appointed as its president and CEO, replacing Geoff inception, it has invested in over 5,000 companies that have a combined valuation of over $800 billion, as per YC Beri, partner at Jungle Ventures, said that while the focus on AI investments has resulted in a decline in India investments, founders today still have multiple seed fund options domestically with accelerator programmes such as Peak XV's Surge are also increasingly prioritising AI-first startups. In its last two cohorts, Surge backed a total of 27 startups, a bulk of which are in the AI or deeptech fields.
Business Standard
6 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
VIBE 2025 Set to Transform Industry-Specific AI Adoption in 48 Hours
NewsVoir Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], July 7: Upekkha, the India-US accelerator that has backed over 100 SaaS and AI startups, has announced VIBE 2025 (Vertical Intelligence & BEyond), the world's first summit dedicated exclusively to vertical AI. Scheduled for 10-11 July 2025 at The Leela Palace, Bengaluru, and co-hosted with SaaSBoomi, this two-day flagship event will showcase how AI can move from concept to real-world deployment within just 48 hours. "Walk in with a problem statement, walk out with a working AI pilot in 48 hours." This bold promise underpins VIBE 2025's mission -- to convert AI ambition into actionable outcomes. "AI hype is cheap. Outcomes are priceless. At VIBE, a banker, a healthcare firm, or a manufacturer can frame a real problem on Day 1 and see a functional AI first pilot in forty eight hours," said Prasanna Krishnamoorthy, Convener, VIBE & Partner, Upekkha. VIBE 2025 features VIBE Pilots, the world's first AI pilot festival. This 24-hour innovation sprint invites enterprise leaders to present live challenges from their strategic priorities. Pre-selected AI startups will build working prototypes to solve these challenges, with CXOs providing immediate feedback. From fraud detection in finance to inventory management in retail, these pilots are designed to lead directly to partnerships and deployments. "AI destroyed the junior developer market and built one of the fastest categories in history, from nothing to $1.6B in ARR in AI coding in under a year. It is coming for verticals next. We are bringing 200 startups and 100 CxOs to VIBE Summit to shape how to navigate this," said Thiyagarajan Maruthavanan, Convener, VIBE & Partner, Upekkha. VIBE 2025 will feature headline voices such as Shekhar Kirani (Accel) and Pratik Pal (Tata Group) on India's $50 billion AI opportunity, and Shankar Maruwada (EkStep, Aadhaar) on the country as the AI use-case capital. Leaders from Renault Nissan, ABB, Airbus, and Accenture will cover AI in manufacturing. Banking, consumer-tech, healthcare, and insurance insights will come from Muthoot, Ujjivan Bank, Citi, Tata Digital, Narayana Health, Dozee, HDFC Securities, HDFC Life, and MediAssist. The summit opens with a keynote and masterclass by Simon Wardley on navigating AI's platform shift, and closes Day 1 with Prof. Saras Sarasvathy urging enterprises and entrepreneurs to co-create in uncertainty. VIBE 2025 promises over 20 sessions featuring 50 speakers, with participation from 200 AI-native startups and more than 100 CXOs and investors. The event will include VIBE Pilots, sector-specific sessions across banking, insurance, manufacturing, health, energy, space, and consumer-tech, as well as the VIBE Awards, which will spotlight AI deployments already generating real revenue and impact. Closed-door CXO dinners and boardroom workshops will enable deep dives into data governance, regulation, and AI strategy. "Satya Nadella recently called India 'the AI use-case capital of the world.' VIBE 2025 turns that headline into a market by matching domain pain-points with AI talent and capital in real time. We don't need another 10-year transformation roadmap. We need an AI pilot that proves itself in 10 hours. VIBE is where we're making it happen," said Avinash Raghava, CEO, SaaSBoomi. Unlike traditional AI conferences that focus on horizontal Gen-AI trends with slide decks and vendor booths, VIBE 2025 will deliver live 24-hour build sprints with pre-matched startups and CXOs, producing ready-to-deploy pilots and curated enterprise-startup partnerships. The summit focuses on delivering vertical AI solutions tailored for specific industries. For agenda, tickets, and further information, visit The detailed schedule is available at Upekkha is an AI Accelerator for global Indian founders. The company partners with founders building next-generation AI software companies. Established in 2017, Upekkha has become a powerful force in reshaping the Indian startup ecosystem. SaaSBoomi is a community-led platform that brings together SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) founders, builders, and enthusiasts to share knowledge, collaborate, and accelerate the growth of SaaS businesses, primarily in India. Founded in 2015 as an informal network of SaaS founders eager to learn from one another, SaaSBoomi has grown into a vibrant community representing over 1,500 companies.
Fashion Value Chain
6 days ago
- Business
- Fashion Value Chain
VIBE 2025 Set to Transform Industry-Specific AI Adoption in 48 Hours
Upekkha, the India-US accelerator that has backed over 100 SaaS and AI startups, has announced VIBE 2025 (Vertical Intelligence & BEyond), the world's first summit dedicated exclusively to vertical AI. Scheduled for 10-11 July 2025 at The Leela Palace, Bengaluru, and co-hosted with SaaSBoomi, this two-day flagship event will showcase how AI can move from concept to real-world deployment within just 48 hours. VIBE 2025 in Bengaluru will unite 200+ AI startups and 100+ CXOs to deliver live 48-hour AI pilots, driving real-world impact across manufacturing, healthcare, energy, and more 'Walk in with a problem statement, walk out with a working AI pilot in 48 hours.' This bold promise underpins VIBE 2025's mission – to convert AI ambition into actionable outcomes. 'AI hype is cheap. Outcomes are priceless. At VIBE, a banker, a healthcare firm, or a manufacturer can frame a real problem on Day 1 and see a functional AI first pilot in forty eight hours,' said Prasanna Krishnamoorthy, Convener, VIBE & Partner, Upekkha. VIBE 2025 features VIBE Pilots, the worlds first AI pilot festival. This 24-hour innovation sprint invites enterprise leaders to present live challenges from their strategic priorities. Pre-selected AI startups will build working prototypes to solve these challenges, with CXOs providing immediate feedback. From fraud detection in finance to inventory management in retail, these pilots are designed to lead directly to partnerships and deployments. 'AI destroyed the junior developer market and built one of the fastest categories in history, from nothing to $1.6B in ARR in AI coding in under a year. It is coming for verticals next. We are bringing 200 startups and 100 CxOs to VIBE Summit to shape how to navigate this,' said Thiyagarajan Maruthavanan, Convener, VIBE & Partner, Upekkha. VIBE 2025 will feature headline voices such as Shekhar Kirani (Accel) and Pratik Pal (Tata Group) on India's $50 billion AI opportunity, and Shankar Maruwada (EkStep, Aadhaar) on the country as the AI use-case capital. Leaders from Renault Nissan, ABB, Airbus, and Accenture will cover AI in manufacturing. Banking, consumer-tech, healthcare, and insurance insights will come from Muthoot, Ujjivan Bank, Citi, Tata Digital, Narayana Health, Dozee, HDFC Securities, HDFC Life, and MediAssist. The summit opens with a keynote and masterclass by Simon Wardley on navigating AI's platform shift, and closes Day 1 with Prof. Saras Sarasvathy urging enterprises and entrepreneurs to co-create in uncertainty. VIBE 2025 promises over 20 sessions featuring 50 speakers, with participation from 200 AI-native startups and more than 100 CXOs and investors. The event will include VIBE Pilots, sector-specific sessions across banking, insurance, manufacturing, health, energy, space, and consumer-tech, as well as the VIBE Awards, which will spotlight AI deployments already generating real revenue and impact. Closed-door CXO dinners and boardroom workshops will enable deep dives into data governance, regulation, and AI strategy. 'Satya Nadella recently called India 'the AI use-case capital of the world.' VIBE 2025 turns that headline into a market by matching domain pain-points with AI talent and capital in real time. We don't need another 10-year transformation roadmap. We need an AI pilot that proves itself in 10 hours. VIBE is where we're making it happen,' said Avinash Raghava, CEO, SaaSBoomi. Unlike traditional AI conferences that focus on horizontal Gen-AI trends with slide decks and vendor booths, VIBE 2025 will deliver live 24-hour build sprints with pre-matched startups and CXOs, producing ready-to-deploy pilots and curated enterprise-startup partnerships. The summit focuses on delivering vertical AI solutions tailored for specific industries. For agenda, tickets, and further information, visit The detailed schedule is available at About Upekkha Upekkha is an AI Accelerator for global Indian founders. The company partners with founders building next-generation AI software companies. Established in 2017, Upekkha has become a powerful force in reshaping the Indian startup ecosystem. About SaaSBoomi SaaSBoomi is a community-led platform that brings together SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) founders, builders, and enthusiasts to share knowledge, collaborate, and accelerate the growth of SaaS businesses, primarily in India. Founded in 2015 as an informal network of SaaS founders eager to learn from one another, SaaSBoomi has grown into a vibrant community representing over 1,500 companies.
