'Investment surge expected among India's AI startups'

India's artificial intelligence (AI) startup ecosystem will see a lot more growth-stage funding within the next 4-12 months, according to a top executive at global investment firm WestBridge Capital.

- Rwit Ghosh

"I think $50 million rounds are happening already. It's a matter of time and the pace at which these companies grow. They could raise $100 million by the end of the year or in the next six to twelve months, potentially," Rishit Desai, partner at WestBridge Capital, told Mint in an interview. Desai handles all of the firm's investments related to AI and software-as-a-service (SaaS).

WestBridge has already made several sizable bets in 2025. In April, it led a $60 million round in Tessel, an AI-native database-as-a-service (DBaaS) platform, with Lightspeed also participating. Other deals include a $50 million Series B in Unify-Apps, $40 million in Finbox for AI-driven credit infrastructure, and participation in Nexthop AI's $110 million round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners.