A year ago, if you asked someone to name an Indian AI company, you'd probably get one answer: Krutrim. Today, that list has grown so fast that I had to cut it at 100, and even then I left out good teams.

ai startups

2026 is the year Indian AI stopped being a side story. Fractal Analytics listed on the NSE and BSE on 16 February, becoming the first pure-play AI company from India to go public. That same week, at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, Sarvam shipped two open-source models trained from scratch in India, and Mumbai's Neysa announced a Blackstone-led $1.2 billion raise for GPU cloud. By July we had three new AI unicorns: Neysa, Sarvam and Emergent.

The money tells the same story. According to Inc42, Indian AI startups raised $676 million across 57 deals in H1 2026, more than four times the $162 million raised in H1 2025, even as overall startup funding fell 9%. Q3 added another $438 million across 35 deals.

I work on AI platforms for a living (gateways, MCP integrations, SRE agents), so I wanted a list that's useful to builders, not just investors. Here's how I put it together.

How I picked the 100

  • Built in India, or by Indian founders with real teams here. A few, like Uniphore or Smallest.ai, are headquartered in the US but build heavily from India.
  • Still a startup. Listed companies (Fractal, E2E Networks) and acquired ones are out.
  • AI is the product, not a feature. If you removed the model, the company wouldn't exist.
  • Facts checked as of 12 November 2026. Funding numbers come from company announcements and outlets like Inc42, TechCrunch, Entrackr and Business Today. Startup numbers move fast, so check before you quote them.

The list isn't a ranking. I've grouped it into ten buckets so you can jump to the part of the stack you care about.

1. Foundation models and sovereign AI

The IndiaAI Mission picked 12 teams across two rounds to build home-grown models. This is the most capital-hungry corner of the ecosystem, and the one with the most national pride riding on it.

  • 1. Sarvam AI (Bengaluru): India's flagship sovereign-AI lab. Raised $234M in June 2026 at a $1.5B valuation, with HCLTech putting in $150M, and open-sourced its Sarvam 30B and 105B models.
  • 2. Krutrim (Bengaluru): Bhavish Aggarwal's AI venture and India's first AI unicorn. After a rough patch, it pivoted to AI cloud services in May 2026 and reported its first annual profit.
  • 3. Soket AI Labs (Gurugram): Building EKA, an open-source 120B-parameter Indic model under the IndiaAI Mission, aimed at sectors like defence, healthcare and education.
  • 4. Gnani.ai (Bengaluru): Voice-first AI that launched Inya VoiceOS, a 5B-parameter voice-to-voice model, and raised a $10M Series B led by Aavishkaar Capital.
  • 5. Gan.ai (Bengaluru): Started in personalised video; now building a 70B multilingual model focused on text-to-speech under the IndiaAI Mission.
  • 6. CoRover (Bengaluru): The team behind BharatGPT, with conversational AI deployed for large public-sector clients.
  • 7. Genloop (Bengaluru): Picked in the IndiaAI Mission's second round to build Indian LLMs and small language models.
  • 8. Shodh AI (Bengaluru): Research-first lab, also in the second IndiaAI round, building domain-specific models for science and enterprise.
  • 9. Zenteiq (Bengaluru): Scientific-AI startup selected under the IndiaAI foundation-model pillar.
  • 10. Avataar.ai (Bengaluru): Known for generative 3D for e-commerce; now one of the 12 IndiaAI foundation-model teams.
  • 11. 169Pi: A young lab building general-purpose AI models; featured on Inc42's AI Startups To Watch in January 2026.

2. AI infrastructure, compute and developer tools

This is the layer I care most about. Without cheap GPUs and good tooling, the rest of the list doesn't ship.

  • 12. Neysa (Mumbai): AI cloud built for Indian enterprises. Raised $600M in equity led by Blackstone plus $600M in planned debt in Feb 2026, and plans to deploy 20,000+ GPUs.
  • 13. Yotta Data Services (Mumbai): Data centre operator running the Shakti GPU cloud, one of the big compute suppliers to the IndiaAI Mission.
  • 14. Simplismart (Bengaluru): Fast inference and MLOps for open-source models. Raised a $14M Series B in Oct 2026 with Nvidia participating.
  • 15. TrueFoundry (Bengaluru): Kubernetes-native platform to deploy and scale LLMs and agents; raised $19M led by Intel Capital.
  • 16. Portkey (Bengaluru): AI gateway with routing, guardrails, observability and cost controls across 1,600+ models. Raised a $15M Series A led by Elevation in Feb 2026.
  • 17. Composio (Bengaluru): Connects AI agents to 3,000+ apps with managed auth and MCP support. Raised a $25M Series A led by Lightspeed.
  • 18. QpiAI (Bengaluru): Combines AI with quantum computing, from software to its own quantum hardware.
  • 19. Netrasemi (Thiruvananthapuram): Designs edge-AI chips for vision and smart devices, a rare chip startup outside the usual hubs.
  • 20. Segmind (Bengaluru): Serverless APIs and workflows for running generative image and video models.
  • 21. Scalekit (Bengaluru): Authentication and access control for B2B apps and AI agents.

3. Agentic AI and enterprise automation

The money in 2026 followed agents that do real work, not chatbots that just answer.

  • 22. Emergent (Bengaluru): Vibe-coding platform from Mukund and Madhav Jha. Raised $130M at $1.5B in July 2026 and says it hit about $120M in annualised revenue.
  • 23. Rocket (Surat): Formerly DhiWise; turns prompts into production apps. Raised $15M from Salesforce Ventures and Accel and claims 1.5M+ users.
  • 24. UnifyApps (Gurugram): Connects enterprise systems with AI agents; raised a $50M Series B led by WestBridge, with Sprinklr founder Ragy Thomas as co-CEO.
  • 25. Lyzr: Infrastructure for enterprise AI agents; an Accenture-led round in March 2026 valued it at $250M.
  • 26. Nurix AI (Bengaluru): Voice and chat agents for sales and support; Prosus invested in March 2026, and Myntra is a customer.
  • 27. Atomicwork (Bengaluru): AI-native IT service management that replaces ticket queues with an agent.
  • 28. Uniphore (Chennai / Palo Alto): Business AI cloud for enterprises; raised $260M at a $2.5B valuation from Nvidia, AMD, Snowflake and Databricks.
  • 29. Yellow.ai (Bengaluru / San Mateo): Customer-service agents across voice and chat; plans to list on Nasdaq through a SPAC merger valued around $550M.
  • 30. Observe.AI (Bengaluru / US): Contact-centre AI that listens to calls and coaches agents; one of the best-funded AI firms with Indian roots.
  • 31. Leena AI (Gurugram): AI colleague for employee IT and HR requests.
  • 32. Kore.ai (Hyderabad / Orlando): Enterprise platform for building conversational and agentic apps at scale.
  • 33. Rocketlane (Chennai): Customer-onboarding and services software now built around AI agents.
  • 34. Thesys: Generative UI that lets AI apps answer with live interfaces instead of walls of text.
  • 35. E42.ai (Mumbai): No-code platform for building AI co-workers for finance, HR and operations.

4. Voice and conversational AI

India talks more than it types, in dozens of languages. That's why voice is the most crowded category on this list.

  • 36. Smallest.ai (San Francisco / Bengaluru): Real-time voice models and agents; raised a $13M Series A in July 2026, taking total funding past $21M.
  • 37. Bolna (Bengaluru): YC-backed voice-agent platform supporting 10+ Indian languages; raised $6.3M led by General Catalyst.
  • 38. Murf AI (Bengaluru): AI voiceovers for creators and enterprises, now built into Canva.
  • 39. Convin (Bengaluru): Conversation intelligence that audits every sales and support call.
  • 40. Gupshup (Mumbai / San Francisco): Messaging giant rebuilt around AI agents on WhatsApp and RCS.
  • 41. Mihup (Kolkata): Speech analytics for contact centres, tuned for Indian accents and code-mixed speech.
  • 42. Avaamo (Bengaluru / US): Conversational AI for regulated industries like healthcare and banking.
  • 43. Arrowhead AI (Bengaluru): Multilingual voice agents for collections, sales and support calls.
  • 44. SquadStack (Noida): AI and human-assisted calling for sales teams.
  • 45. Saarthi.ai (Bengaluru): Vernacular voice bots for banks and NBFCs.

5. Healthcare

  • 46. Qure.ai (Mumbai): AI that reads X-rays and CT scans; won a Gates Foundation grant in Jan 2026 for AI-powered ultrasound for TB and pneumonia.
  • 47. Innovaccer (Noida / San Francisco): Healthcare data and AI unicorn with roughly $650M raised.
  • 48. NIRAMAI (Bengaluru): Radiation-free, AI-based breast cancer screening.
  • 49. Wysa (Bengaluru): AI mental-health support app used by employers and health systems.
  • 50. Dozee (Bengaluru): Contactless patient monitoring under the mattress, with AI early warnings.
  • 51. Tricog (Bengaluru): Remote ECG interpretation for clinics without a cardiologist.
  • 52. SigTuple (Bengaluru): AI-driven microscopy for blood and urine tests.
  • 53. 5C Network (Bengaluru): AI-assisted radiology reporting for hospitals and diagnostic centres.
  • 54. Cloudphysician (Bengaluru): Tele-ICU with AI monitoring for hospitals in smaller cities.
  • 55. AiSteth (Bengaluru): Smart stethoscope that flags heart and lung conditions.
  • 56. Signzy (Bengaluru): AI-driven KYC and onboarding for banks and fintechs.
  • 57. IDfy (Mumbai): Identity verification and fraud detection.
  • 58. Perfios (Bengaluru): AI underwriting and financial-data analytics for lenders.
  • 59. jhana.ai (Bengaluru): AI research and drafting assistant for Indian lawyers.
  • 60. SpotDraft (Bengaluru / New York): AI contract management for in-house legal teams.
  • 61. Lexlegis.ai (Mumbai): Legal research AI trained on Indian case law and tax rulings.
  • 62. RapidClaims (Bengaluru): Automates medical coding and claims for US healthcare providers.
  • 63. Samya.ai (Bengaluru): Planning and pricing AI for consumer goods companies.
  • 64. Asper.ai (Mumbai): Revenue-growth AI for CPG brands, spun out of Fractal.
  • 65. Atlan (Delhi / New York): Data catalogue and governance, the "context layer" for enterprise AI; named Scale-up Startup of the Year at AIBoomi 2026.
  • 66. Whatfix (Bengaluru): Digital adoption platform that now uses AI to guide and train employees inside software.

7. Marketing, content and creative

  • 67. InVideo (Mumbai): Text-to-video for creators and marketers; launched an AI film studio with Abundantia Entertainment.
  • 68. Pixis (Bengaluru): Codeless AI for performance marketing, with over $200M raised.
  • 69. Writesonic (Bengaluru): AI content and SEO platform, now focused on visibility inside AI search.
  • 70. Pepper Content (Mumbai): Content marketing platform with AI-assisted creation.
  • 71. Predis.ai (Pune): Generates social media posts, carousels and ads from a prompt.
  • 72. Dashtoon (Bengaluru): AI-assisted comics and an app to read them.
  • 73. Beatoven.ai (Bengaluru): Royalty-free AI music for videos and podcasts.
  • 74. Dubverse (Delhi): AI dubbing of video into many languages.
  • 75. Mockey.ai: AI product mockups and photos for small sellers.
  • 76. Presentations.ai (Bengaluru): Turns a prompt into a ready-to-present deck.
  • 77. Zingroll (Bengaluru): Streaming app for AI-generated shows and films.
  • 78. Entropik (Bengaluru): AI consumer research using emotion and attention signals.

8. Education and consumer

  • 79. SpeakX (Bengaluru): AI tutor for spoken English.
  • 80. Seekho (Bengaluru): Bite-sized learning videos in Indian languages, with AI personalisation.
  • 81. Miko (Mumbai): AI companion robots for kids, sold worldwide.
  • 82. Upliance.ai (Bengaluru): AI cooking assistant appliance for Indian kitchens.
  • 83. HiAstro: AI astrology app, a sign of how consumer AI is going local.
  • 84. Redrob (Noida): Building localised models and Redrob AI, a professional assistant for jobs, resumes and research.

9. Agriculture, climate and mobility

  • 85. Cropin (Bengaluru): Agri-intelligence cloud with crop models used by agribusinesses and governments.
  • 86. Fasal (Bengaluru): IoT plus AI for precision farming and irrigation.
  • 87. KissanAI (Bengaluru): Agriculture-specific language model and voice assistant for farmers.
  • 88. SatSure (Bengaluru): Satellite data and AI for farm credit, insurance and infrastructure.
  • 89. Intello Labs (Gurugram): Computer vision that grades fruit, vegetables and grains.
  • 90. Fleetx (Gurugram): AI fleet management for trucking and logistics.
  • 91. Netradyne (Bengaluru / San Diego): Edge-AI dashcams for driver safety; became India's first unicorn of 2025.

10. Robotics and physical AI

  • 92. CynLr (Bengaluru): Vision-led robot arms that can pick unfamiliar objects on factory lines.
  • 93. Ati Motors (Bengaluru): Autonomous tuggers for factories and warehouses.
  • 94. Peppermint Robotics (Pune): Autonomous floor-cleaning robots for commercial spaces.
  • 95. ANSCER Robotics (Bengaluru): Autonomous mobile robots for intralogistics.
  • 96. Niqo Robotics (Bengaluru): AI-powered precision spraying for farms.
  • 97. Unbox Robotics (Pune): Robotic sorting systems for parcels and e-commerce.
  • 98. Detect Technologies (Chennai): AI video analytics for industrial safety.
  • 99. Staqu (Gurugram): Video analytics for public safety and retail.
  • 100. Mad Street Den / Vue.ai (Chennai): Computer vision and AI automation for retail and enterprises.

What this list actually tells us

Put all 100 side by side and a few patterns jump out.

Bengaluru still dominates, but it's not the whole story. Zinnov's March 2026 report on India's top 100 AI startups found 59 of them based in Bengaluru. My list looks similar. But Rocket in Surat, Netrasemi in Thiruvananthapuram and Mihup in Kolkata show that good AI teams no longer need a Koramangala address.

Capital is concentrating. A handful of companies (Neysa, Sarvam, Emergent, Uniphore) took a large share of 2026's money. Most others on this list are at seed to Series B, raising $5–30 million at a time. That gap matters: training models and buying GPUs is expensive, and India still has few late-stage AI investors.

Voice and agents are where Indian startups have an edge. India's languages and the habit of calling rather than typing create problems global players don't solve well. That's why you see Gnani, Bolna, Smallest.ai, Sarvam and a dozen others building for real phone calls in Hindi, Tamil and Hinglish.

The infra layer is finally real. Two years ago, an Indian team that wanted GPUs had to go to AWS or Azure. Now there's Neysa, Yotta and Krutrim's cloud, plus Simplismart, TrueFoundry and Portkey to run models on top. As someone who builds AI platforms, this is the shift I find most exciting.

Not every bet will work. Krutrim's year (layoffs, a consumer app pulled offline, then a pivot to cloud) is a reminder that big announcements aren't the same as product-market fit. Some names on this list won't be here next year. That's normal.

If you're a developer, my advice is simple: try the open models (Sarvam's are on Hugging Face), play with the infra tools, and follow the voice-AI teams. That's where India is building something the rest of the world will copy.

Did I miss a startup you think belongs here? Tell me in the comments and I'll update this list as 2026 wraps up.

Funding and valuation figures are as reported up to 12 November 2026 and may change. This article is for information only and isn't investment advice.