Stellaris Venture Partners’ Post

AI-powered video creation startup Rephrasedotai’s cofounder Shivam Mangla believes that Indian GenAI startups will have to cater to both domestic and global markets to effectively leverage the GenAI boom 👇 Speaking at Inc42’s GenAI Summit, Mangla said that building applications on top of existing AI models that solve challenges faced by both local and overseas businesses will be key to creating revenue streams. Humantic AI founder and CEO  Amarpreet Kalkat said that enterprises want compliance, control and privacy as there are many risks involved with the emerging GenAI tech. As per Inc42 data, the country is home to more than 100 native startups (as of October 2023) that have raised $600 Mn+ since 2019. Read more 👇 #genai #GenAISummit2024 #startup

As the adoption of GenAI grows in the country, varied applications, draped as horizontal and vertical solutions, are increasingly finding their use cases. Whether conversational tools, speech-to-text/speech-to-speech bots, text summarisation, or video generation, Indian startups seem to be taking charge of paving the future of this ingenious tech in the country👇 In 2024 alone, several new-age tech startups, including the likes of Highperformr.AI, Ayna, Gnani.ai, Clodura.AI and Vitra.ai, raised funding from investors such as Inflexor Ventures, Info Edge, Venture Highway, and Bharat Innovation Fund, just to name a few. However, worth noting is the fact that 91% of the money invested in Indian native GenAI startups to date has gone to companies that are building business or consumer applications around GenAI technology, according to Inc42’s latest report — The Rise Of India’s GenAI Brigade. Consequently, foundational solutions like LLMs and cloud infrastructure are seemingly less of a priority for the VC ecosystem. Substantiating this, a recent survey by Inc42 of over 50 VCs has revealed that 62% of the VCs prioritised startups building tools and applications on existing LLMs. Meanwhile, merely 11% see scope for startups in developing domestic open-source foundation models (LLM) and 19% in closed-source foundation models. To Read Why Are Investors Betting on AI Skyscrapers, Not Foundational Models, Click here: https://4-2.co/4eUmbB9 #Inc42InDepth #GenAI #tech #startups

"AI is seamlessly integrating into every facet of the startup ecosystem", Nishit Garg told Business Standard. In a recent interview, he discusses how AI is shaping the future of India's startup ecosystem and how entrepreneurs are using it to drive innovation across sectors like healthcare, logistics, and finance. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/efhzJPky

New Bessemer Venture Partners research points to a resurgence in Indian SaaS unicorns led by AI startups. 🦄 A few notes on the state of the market & anticipated trends: ▪️ 𝗪𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗲 #𝗔𝗜 𝘀𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 across our G2 marketplace - in terms of new AI products, AI-powered products, & categories emerging ▪️𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯 𝘀𝗮𝘄 𝟮𝟳 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗻𝘀 and 14 Indian centaurs, though none led by AI startups vs 2022 which saw 9, according to Bessemer's report. 2024 has seen 2 Indian SaaS unicorns led by AI startups already, indicating a resurgence on this front. ▪️ 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗜 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗺 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 & 𝘀𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘆𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝗳 𝗥𝗢𝗜 on existing investments. And, it seems they're starting to get that validation. Our G2 2024 Buyer Behavior Report revealed that employee productivity is the #1 way orgs are measuring ROI from their AI tools. And, of buyers who said that their organization had purchased an AI platform within the last 3 months, 83% reported already experiencing ROI. ▪️ 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗜-𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. From their survey of India-based early-stage software startups,  90% have launched at least one AI feature in the past year & more than 60% are evolving into AI-enabled SaaS providers. I look forward to hearing first-hand from my #SaaS friends in India next month about these trends when I’ll be in Bangalore for our G2 Live event! Cc Shreyans Dugar + Sharath Jagadish Links to Bessemer’s report & our G2 Live  Bangalore page are below. ⬇

Today it’s the AI-native founder who wins the race, writes Antler general partner Jeff Becker, who explains: AI-natives are technically fluent in artificial intelligence and socially adept at navigating its impact. They are born with the internet in their pockets. #vc #startups https://lnkd.in/gPE3Gkzj

Good Capital Commits $25M to Fuel India's AI Revolution! We're thrilled to announce that Good Capital is dedicating $25 million from our $50 million Fund II to invest in India's most promising AI startups this fiscal year. Our focus sectors include Cleantech, e-commerce, edtech, healthtech, SaaS, and deeptech, but we're open to exploring the limitless potential of AI across industries. India's AI talent is truly exceptional, tackling some of the world's most diverse and complex challenges. We're amazed to see that 80% of our current investment pipeline is already AI-focused. At Good Capital, we're committed to backing founders who leverage AI to empower local intermediaries, reduce acquisition costs, and drive high conversions. We're not just chasing hype; we're investing in real value creation. Read more about our investment strategy and focus areas in our latest press release: https://lnkd.in/gjmNgxhs

AI digital worker startup 11x has announced a $50m Series B led by Andreessen Horowitz. The news comes less than 2 months after the much-hyped company raised a $24m Series A from investors including Benchmark, 20VC, Quiet Capital, SV Angel, Abstract Ventures, Lux Capital, Operator Partners, Visionaries Club, Activant, HubSpot Ventures and Project A. 11x.ai has also announced that it acquired Opkit, a US-based startup which uses AI to automate routine phone calls between healthcare professionals and patients. #successstory #ai #airace #fundingnews #ainews #aistartups #seriesb #aidevelopment #digitalworkers #aiadoption #airally #vc #venturefunding #vcnews #startupfunding #mergersandacquisitions #salesai #revtech #gtmtech #aiassistants #fundraising #ai4good #genai #agenticAI #artificialintelligence #aiagents #aiinvestment #innovation #aifuture #aitrends

Over the past few weeks we have come across several debates around valuations of AI startups, since we are involved in a few (Frammer, AiVANTA, Factacy, FIGG, Expertia etc). The usual argument is that the startups coming out of the East (India, Middle East etc) are building "wrapper" products leveraging existing LLMs or training LLMs with training data OR building "orchestration" mechanics to arrive at outcomes- but HEY MR. VC / INVESTOR, please note that the "value" that these startups are creating is REAL with actual fast / sustainable $$ in the bank, contracts in place and amazing customer adoption = welcome to the world of AI SaaS rocketships set to disrupt all types of enterprises / corporates. And then we have startups like Hebbia (link in the first comment below) "And its funding demonstrates that 50x annual recurring revenue (ARR) is becoming the norm for AI startups"

“I cannot think of any software startups that do not try to leverage the latest development in AI,” said Yuasa via email. “That being said, we don’t have a lot of ‘AI startups’ per se. AI is an enabler to create a product that meets customer and consumer needs so they are mostly behind the curtain.” - From Emre Yuasa, general partner at Globis Capital Partners. [as quoted in Term Sheet regarding VC tech investing in Japan] I think Japan is looking at this the right way, especially as their VC funded startup market emerges with their risk appetite. AI provides leverage and just because they don't have any hardcore AI startups doesn't mean they can't ride AI innovations to power their traditional SaaS companies.

I read recently an interesting article from Bessemer Venture Partners that highlighted the unique position of India's SAAS landscape, and it's fascinating. 😯 Not only India's SAAS sector is growing rapidly but it's evolving into an AI-powered ecosystem. Interestingly, more than 90% of Indian startups have integrated at least one AI feature in the past year. 🤖 And there is no sign of slowing down as most startups plan to invest even more in AI. This shows that SAAS and AI are becoming increasingly intertwined, with AI driving SAAS providers to new heights. We've witnessed this firsthand with our clients at WGMI Labs. AI creates new opportunities and stronger value propositions in ways that were unimaginable just a few years ago. So, how can you take advantage of this opportunity? If you have an idea for a software product or internal tool, now is the time to act. By leveraging No-Code platforms and AI, we can turn your ideas into a fully-fledged product faster than ever. In less than 60 days! If you are interested, we're currently offering a free roadmap session to help you get started. 🚀 Let's explore how AI and No-Code can bring your vision to life. #SAAS #AI #nocode #automation #startups