VCs look to invest in Indian AI startups that offer nuanced solutions that big-tech companies cannot deliver.
Sridhar Vembu, former CEO of Zoho Corp, recently highlighted the need to stop glorifying English in India’s R&D ecosystem. “There is a lot of R&D talent in India if we get rid of the English barrier and the social stigma of not knowing English well,” he posted on X. “I am right now working with extremely capable engineers on some advanced tech, and we converse in Tamil because that is what they are most comfortable with,” he added. While Vembu’s emphasis on local languages was one aspect of the discussion, the localisation of AI solutions is gaining momentum. Indian companies are increasingly preferring homegrown AI startups over big-tech firms.
The Preferred Choice
In a past interaction with AIM, MN Anucheth, the JCP of Bengaluru Traffic, spoke about the traffic department working with several homegrown AI startups to leverage AI solutions.
“Since Bengaluru is the tech capital of India and a lot of AI-based startups are based in the city, we have been lucky enough to be able to work with many such companies,” he said. “AI has been made accessible to us, for which we would otherwise rely on some foreign import or off-the-shelf product, which generally do not work in real-time conditions.”
The Bengaluru Traffic Police has collaborated with many Indian startups to enhance AI-driven traffic management. For instance, Monday Technologies supports AI avatars for awareness videos and drone-based monitoring to detect road blockages and accidents. Other key partners include IBI (the developer of ASTraM), Skita, and Matrix Technologies, with Videonetics as the OEM.
Anucheth explained that continuous feedback helps refine models, such as improving seatbelt detection accuracy. Though big-tech firms such as Google and Cisco offer traffic management solutions, authorities prefer to maintain flexibility and control over their infrastructure.
“Nothing against big tech companies, but I think our experience has been that we can’t work with them to give tailor-made solutions to us,” said Anucheth.
This article was originally published on Analytics India Magazine>
