India's Pi Ventures reaches $13m first close on AI fund
Indian early-stage VC investor Pi Ventures has reached a first close of $13 million on its debut artificial intelligence (AI)-focused fund.
LPs in the fund include the Small Industries Development Bank of India and a number of Indian entrepreneurs, such as Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal and MakeMyTrip co-founder Deep Kalra, in addition to family offices from the US, Canada, Singapore and India. In a statement the firm said it expects the vehicle to reach a $30 million final close later this year.
Pi invests in early-stage start-ups aiming to use AI and machine learning to solve problems in the healthcare, logistics, retail and financial sectors. The fund plans to back 18-20 companies over the next four years.
Since its founding last year Pi has made three investments, including a $5.8 million Series A round for healthcare-focused AI start-up SigTuple led by Accel Partners. The firm has also invested in energy efficiency consultancy Zenatix and medical data app developer ten3T.
“India is the dark horse in the AI race given it has lot of data, brilliant data science talent and an early adoption environment due to broken processes, and we are happy to play a part in helping India leapfrog with AI,” said Founding Partner Manish Singhal. “We are very excited to play a role in building a strong AI-based product ecosystem in India.”
Pi claims to be India’s first early-stage fund focused entirely on AI and machine learning, but a number of other VC firms are making inroads in the space. Last year technology investor and accelerator Techcelx launched a INR1 billion ($15 million) fund targeting companies across the banking, education and healthcare sectors, and Helion Venture Partners spin-out Stellaris Venture Partners launched its debut $100 million fund, with a remit that includes AI.
In addition, IDG Ventures India recently partnered with Axilor Ventures for the Frontier Tech Innovators Program, which will support companies developing frontier technology, including AI along with virtual and augmented reality, blockchain and robotics.
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