Bengaluru is the base for much of India's AI startup activity, helped by a software economy that gave Karnataka a 42% share of India's software exports in FY2022-23. This list covers ten AI startups headquartered or operating at scale in the city, from Sarvam AI, which raised about US$41 million in 2023, to medical AI firms that have screened hundreds of thousands of patients.
How we chose these AI startups
We looked for companies whose core product is built on artificial intelligence rather than companies that only add AI features. Each startup on this list either has its headquarters or registered office in Bengaluru, or was founded in the city and still runs a major office there. We relied on company websites, legal pages that state registered addresses, and Wikipedia entries that cite funding news.
We left out any number we could not confirm from a source we read. Funding totals change often in this sector, so treat the figures as a snapshot from public information available in November 2026, not as the latest valuation of any company.
The list
Builds large language models, speech recognition and text to speech systems focused on Indian languages, sold to governments and enterprises through APIs and products such as document AI and work agents. It was founded in August 2023 by researchers previously linked to AI4Bharat at IIT Madras.
- Raised about US$41 million in a combined seed and Series A round in December 2023, led by Lightspeed
- Selected by MeitY in April 2025 to build an indigenous foundation model under the IndiaAI Mission
The AI arm of the Ola group, offering a cloud platform for training and running AI models along with its own models. Its registered office is in Koramangala, Bengaluru, and it positions its infrastructure as proven on large consumer platforms within the group.
- Runs multi-region infrastructure across 2 regions: Bangalore and Hyderabad
- Offers a 99.99% uptime SLA that it describes as financially backed
Provides an AI platform that automates customer support across chat and voice. It was founded in Bengaluru in 2016 as Yellow Messenger, later moved its headquarters to San Mateo, and still runs a large office in Koramangala, Bengaluru.
- Platform supports more than 135 languages across more than 35 channels
- Raised US$78.15 million in its Series C round in 2021
- Reported 1,000+ customers across 50 countries by 2021
An AI-based content and commerce company owned by InMobi. It delivers personalised content experiences on smartphone lock screens and has acquired the short video platform Roposo and the social commerce platform Shop101. It was the second company in the InMobi group to reach unicorn status.
- Raised US$145 million from Google and Mithril Capital in November 2020
- That round took its valuation above US$1.2 billion, making it a unicorn
A Bangalore-based deep tech company that developed Thermalytix, an AI-based breast cancer screening test using thermal imaging. The test is radiation-free, contactless and portable, so it can be used in primary clinics and outreach camps.
- Technology has screened 650,000+ women and is available in 22+ countries
- Backed by 41 patents and 55+ clinically reviewed publications
- Available in 200+ hospitals across 30 cities
A MedTech company that combines AI, robotics, microfluidics and microscopy to automate the analysis of blood, urine and other samples for human and veterinary diagnostics. Its AI100 analyser, launched in 2018, was described as India's first AI-powered digital microscope for blood smears.
- Holds 27 patents and 30+ publications
- Reports 350+ deployments across 7 countries
A deep tech robotics company building visual object intelligence so robots can see, grasp and handle objects they have not been trained on. Its products include CyRo, a dual-arm vision-guided robot, and CyNoid, a mobile system with three 7-axis arms.
- Raised US$10 million in a Series A round, according to coverage listed in its newsroom
- Opened a design and research centre in Prilly, Switzerland
Builds an agentic IT service management and enterprise service management platform with AI coworkers that handle IT and HR requests inside Slack and Microsoft Teams. The company runs hubs in the San Francisco area and Bengaluru, with its Indian office in Bellandur.
- Operates offices in 3 cities: Palo Alto, Bengaluru and Sydney
- Offers integrations with ServiceNow, Slack, Teams and Okta
Runs an AI inference and deployment platform that lets companies serve open-source or custom models in their own cloud or on Simplismart's infrastructure. It is operated by Verute Technologies Private Limited, which lists its office on Residency Road, Bengaluru.
- Model library of 150+ open-source models
- Native integration with 15+ clouds and auto-scaling in under 500 ms
Builds voice AI foundation models for speech to text, text to speech and language, plus enterprise voice agents for collections, customer service and HR. It began research on multilingual speech technology in 2016 and focuses on banking, insurance, healthcare and government.
- Models trained on 14 million hours of telephonic audio across 40+ languages
- Reports 250+ enterprise deployments and 50 million+ voice interactions a day
Listed in no particular order based on public information as of November 2026. XDQ Labs is not affiliated with these companies.
Quick comparison of the 10 startups
The table below groups the startups by what they build and shows how each is tied to Bengaluru. Several sit in deep tech areas such as robotics and medical devices, where hardware and regulation shape the pace of growth as much as model quality does. Others sell software that runs in the cloud.
| Startup | Focus area | Bengaluru link |
|---|---|---|
| Sarvam AI | Indian language LLMs and speech | HQ, founded 2023 |
| Krutrim | AI cloud and models | Registered office, Koramangala |
| Yellow.ai | Customer service automation | Founded 2016, Koramangala office |
| Glance | AI-based content platform | HQ, founded 2019 |
| Niramai | AI breast cancer screening | Bangalore-based |
| SigTuple | AI microscopy and diagnostics | Founded 2015, HQ |
| CynLr | Vision-guided robotics | Bengaluru-based |
| Atomicwork | Agentic IT service management | Bengaluru hub, Bellandur |
| Simplismart | AI inference platform | Registered office, Richmond Town |
| Gnani.ai | Voice AI models and agents | Founded 2016, India |
What sets Bengaluru's AI scene apart
Two themes stand out. The first is Indian language AI. Sarvam AI was selected by MeitY in April 2025 to build an indigenous foundation model under the IndiaAI Mission, and Gnani.ai trains speech models on noisy telephone audio across more than 40 languages. These companies compete on accuracy in real call centre and government settings rather than on English benchmarks.
The second theme is applied deep tech. SigTuple holds 27 patents for automated microscopy, Niramai reports 41 patents and US FDA clearance for its SMILE-100 device, and CynLr builds robots that handle unfamiliar objects without retraining. These products take years to reach the market but are hard for competitors to copy.
How to evaluate an AI startup as a partner or employer
Whether you are a buyer, a job seeker or an investor, ask the same questions. Public claims are a starting point, and a short pilot on your own data tells you far more than a pitch deck. Pay attention to how the team answers questions about failure cases, data handling and support after the first deployment.
- Check where models run: on-premise, private cloud or a shared public API
- Ask for benchmark results on data similar to yours, not generic tests
- Confirm regulatory approvals for health or finance use cases
- Look at the funding stage and how long the runway lasts
- Request reference customers in your industry
Frequently asked questions
Which is the biggest AI startup in Bengaluru?
There is no single agreed ranking. By valuation, Glance passed US$1.2 billion in 2020. By public profile in language AI, Sarvam AI stands out after raising about US$41 million in 2023 and being selected under the IndiaAI Mission in 2025. Size depends on whether you measure funding, revenue or users.
Why are so many AI startups based in Bengaluru?
Bengaluru has a deep pool of software engineers, many global technology centres and active venture investors. Karnataka accounted for 42% of India's software exports in FY2022-23, and around 95% of the state's IT exports come from Bengaluru, so talent and customers are close at hand.
Are there Bengaluru startups building Indian language AI models?
Yes. Sarvam AI builds large language and speech models for Indian languages, Krutrim offers models and AI cloud infrastructure, and Gnani.ai trains voice models on telephone audio across more than 40 languages. Each targets enterprise and government use rather than only consumer chat.
How do I choose an AI startup as a technology vendor?
Run a paid pilot on your own data, check where the models are hosted, and ask for references in your sector. For regulated areas such as healthcare, confirm approvals like US FDA clearance or CE marking before signing a long contract.
Sources
- Sarvam AI, Wikipedia, 2026
- Krutrim cloud and privacy policy, Krutrim, 2026
- Yellow.ai, Wikipedia, 2026
- About Yellow.ai, Yellow.ai, 2026
- Glance (company), Wikipedia, 2026
- Early breast cancer detection, NIRAMAI Health Analytix, 2026
- About SigTuple, SigTuple Technologies, 2026
- CynLr newsroom, CynLr, 2026
- Contact Atomicwork, Atomicwork, 2026
- Simplismart terms of service, Simplismart, 2026
- About Gnani AI, Gnani.ai, 2026
- Software industry in Karnataka, Wikipedia, 2026
- Krutrim cloud platform, Krutrim, 2026
- Simplismart inference platform, Simplismart, 2026
