AI application startups set to get more investments from VC firms

AI startups aren't building horizontal platforms anymore. They're focusing on vertical solutions

- Rwit Ghosh

Indian venture capital firms are expected to increase the number of investments in startups building applications for artificial intelligence in 2025 following improvements in the tooling and infrastructure layers of the technology, according to industry veterans.

"We are seeing a lot more application-layer pitches from founders. Our investments will likely be weighed more heavily there," said Hemant Mohapatra, a partner at global VC firm Lightspeed Venture Partners. "We're very active in the market."

It's a sentiment that's echoed by the largest VC firms in the Indian market including Lightspeed, Accel India and Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia Capital India and Southeast Asia).