Azim Premji's family office, QED Innovation Labs and Ranjan Pai's family office are backing homegrown AI firms, even as India's AI investment of over $15 bn between 2013 and 2025 trails US and China
Azim Premji's family office, QED Innovation Labs and Ranjan Pai's family office are backing homegrown AI firms, even as India's AI investment of over $15 bn between 2013 and 2025 trails US and China
The artificial intelligence boom has cemented US and Chinese tech dominance and created fortunes across North Asia’s chip supply chain. Now, India’s billionaire family offices and wealthy investors are betting on homegrown startups to gain ground in the global AI race.
At least six homegrown companies have amassed valuations of more than $1 billion, underscoring the emergence of a new generation of technology firms as AI adoption accelerates among Indian consumers and businesses.
Billionaire tech founder Azim Premji’s family office, WhatsApp Inc.’s Chief Executive Officer Kunal Shah’s QED Innovation Labs and Manipal Group Chairman Ranjan Pai’s family office are among the investors leading the push into such startups.
India still faces a significant funding shortfall. Private investment in its AI economy totaled more than $15 billion between 2013 and 2025, according to Stanford University’s AI Index Report. This compared with $757 billion investment in the US and nearly $132 billion in China’s AI ecosystem. That has left an opening for billionaire families, conglomerates and venture investors to fund a homegrown AI industry.
“Several family offices and angel investors now are keen on investing directly as they get comfortable with how India’s AI ecosystem is coming into place,” said Riddhiman Jain, head of investments at Indian wealth manager Waterfield Advisors. “AI needs patient capital, which is scarce, and the investing universe is still at a very early stage.”
Premji Invest has emerged as the biggest Indian family office investing across the AI landscape globally. Most recently in June, it invested in a $27 million round in AI verification platform Pramaana Labs, founded by alumni of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (Chennai).
The investment firm’s portfolio ranges from multibillion-dollar AI and technology platforms globally such as Databricks and Canva to generative-AI startups Spotdraft and Writer, according to Tracxn.
Billionaire doctor-turned-entrepreneur Pai’s family office, Claypond Capital, has stepped up its investments this year. It participated in content startup Flam’s $40 million round in September and backed vibe coding platform Emergent’s $130 million round in July.
The influx of capital is helping create a new crop of firms spanning AI models, enterprise software, coding and other applications.
Averytin News Financial update.