Vertical AI apps
Domain workflows with measurable ROI
Applied AI and ML products — how investors separate durable businesses from thin wrappers, and what founders must prove.
AI / ML investors are hunting for leverage that survives model commoditization: proprietary data, evaluation excellence, workflow depth, distribution into a paying buyer, or systems that improve with use. India has deep engineering talent and a surge of AI products; the bar is rising fast on “why not just ChatGPT?”
Strong AI companies usually look vertical. A workflow with clear ROI, measurable accuracy, and switching costs beats a horizontal assistant with demos but no retention. Diligence goes deeper on technical method, eval harnesses, inference cost, and gross margins than a typical consumer pitch.
Founders should pitch the job, the baseline, and the lift. Show before/after for a named ICP, be honest about foundation-model dependency, and explain what becomes defensible over 18 months. Capital often funds data acquisition, GTM into enterprises, and product hardening — not only more GPUs for a vague platform vision.
India has deep engineering talent and a surge of AI products; the bar is rising fast on “why not just ChatGPT?
How this category usually shows up for Indian founders raising capital.
Pick the sub-sector narrative before you shortlist funds.
Domain workflows with measurable ROI
Eval, observability, orchestration, data
Embedded in existing systems of record
India-language and document-heavy use cases
Model + product teams with clear buyers
Bring the ones that match your model.
Core product truth
Gross margin reality
Usage beyond novelty
Enterprise ROI language
Does usage improve the model?
If enterprise GTM
Relative emphasis in partner conversations — directional, not a formula.
Use this before outreach — not after the first rejection.
Pitching AGI vibes instead of a workflow
Hiding human-in-the-loop costs
No baseline — so “90% accuracy” is meaningless
Enterprise logos that only ran a weekend pilot
Ignoring data rights and privacy early
Invest in 100 companies per year at pre-product stage and help them reach their next milestone
$25K – $250KInvest in founders from emerging countries building global businesses
$100K – $500K1818 Venture Capital backs exceptional early-stage founders building in India across SaaS, Consumer, FinTech, AI, and B2B, writing pre-seed and seed cheques in the $100k–$500k range as a micro VC with a strong India-first mandate.
$100K – $500K2048 Ventures backs early-stage founders building transformative companies across AI, DeepTech, Climate, SaaS, and Consumer, with a long-horizon view on where the world is headed by 2048.
$500K – $2MA sector-agnostic, Gen Z-centric, 'India Only' early-stage fund backing young and first-time Indian founders building uniquely Indian companies for the 'New India' opportunity; acts as a hyperlocal bridge connecting global investors with Indian founders, prioritising speed, transparency and founder-friendliness, and leads over half of its deals.
$100K – $500KBack resilient founders scaling toward high summits
$100K – $500K888vc backs early-stage technology companies at Pre-Seed and Seed, with a focus on SaaS, Consumer, FinTech, and AI, writing cheques in the $100k–$500k range.
$100K – $500KBack India's most ambitious founders with capital and community
$100K – $1MDeepTech-focused VC backing startups with strong scientific and research foundations that can fundamentally transform industries and economies; invests and enables, leveraging Middle East and Europe relationships to help portfolio companies expand globally and raise larger follow-on rounds.
$241K – $602KBack founders aiming to build 100x companies
$100K – $500KBack founders building scalable businesses from day one
$50K – $300KAakrit Vaish focuses on Pre-Seed, Seed opportunities across AI / ML, Sector Agnostic, operating as a Angel / Individual relevant to Indian founders.
Pre-SeedAC Ventures backs technology companies across Southeast Asia at Seed and Series A, with a core focus on Indonesia and thematic interest in Consumer, SaaS, FinTech, B2B, and AI.
$500K – $10MBack bold founders from idea to IPO; Fund VIII centres on AI (enterprise, services-as-software, vertical AI) and consumer (Bharat, India-native, aspirational brands).
$1M – $18MAdvantedge focuses on Seed, Series A opportunities across technology and adjacent sectors, operating as a VC relevant to Indian founders.
$250K – $1.5MAgility Ventures backs agile founders building adaptive technology companies across SaaS, FinTech, Consumer, AI, and B2B, writing early-stage cheques at Seed and Pre-Series A to help teams navigate and accelerate through product-market fit.
$250K – $2MInvest ahead of the curve in transformative technology startups
$100K – $500KBack founders building technology companies with global potential from India
$250K – $2MBe the first check and most helpful partner for India's best founders
$100K – $500KAlfa Ventures backs early-stage technology companies at Pre-Seed and Seed, aiming to be the first institutional capital in and partnering with founders across SaaS, Consumer, FinTech, AI, and B2B categories.
$100K – $500KPartner with technology leaders building enduring global businesses
$20M – $200MBack product-led founders building across the India–US corridor, drawing on two decades of operating experience at global platforms to help with product, GTM and cross-border scaling.
$50K – $250KAnay Ventures backs early-stage technology founders in India at the Pre-Seed and Seed stages, writing cheques of $100k–$500k into SaaS, Consumer, FinTech, AI, and B2B companies.
$100K – $500KAndreessen Horowitz focuses on Seed, Series A, Series B opportunities across AI / ML, Crypto / Web3, operating as a VC relevant to Indian founders.
$1M – $30M