Artificial Intelligence is no longer a fringe technology in India. Rapid digitalisation in various industries such as banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), telecommunication, healthcare and automotive have raised a demand for AI-integrated systems. This has fuelled the growth of startups providing AI and related services across different sectors to solve business challenges.
With the increasing adoption of AI and related technologies, the funding of enterprises providing such services has seen an uptick over the years. However, in 2022, there has been only a marginal increase in funding for AI startups. Funding has increased marginally from $1,108 Million in 2021 to $1,109.62 Million in 2022. Moreover, funding rounds have decreased sharply from 135 in 2021 to 47 in 2022.
The report traces how funding in Indian AI startups varies across months, stages (for example, early-stage and late-stage), industries and cities.
The report also covers the acquisition deals in Indian AI startups that happened in the year 2022. With fewer funding rounds in 2022, larger AI enterprises and startups are looking for mergers and acquisitions to diversify into newer domains.
Since the pandemic began, companies have shifted to a remote work model necessitating the need to automate different business processes. AI has been a key technology driving automation. Consequently, several enterprises have shown interest in acquiring AI-based startups. In 2022, 32 AI startups were acquired by big enterprises, unicorns and soonicorns.