Peak XV Invests in Five Companies Shaping Consumer and Enterprise Use of AI in India

Over INR 120 crore invested in early-stage Indian AI companies announced at the Impact AI PitchFest, part of the India AI Impact Summit 2026

New Delhi, India, 17 February 2026: Peak XV today announced investments in five early-stage AI companies at Impact AI PitchFest, part of the India AI Impact Summit 2026. Together, the companies represent a growing shift in how AI is being built and used in India, moving beyond generic tools toward AI systems that actively guide decisions, take action, and reduce friction in everyday life and work.

As AI adoption accelerates, a new category of products is emerging. Instead of acting as passive assistants, these systems reason with users, make recommendations, and operate directly inside high-frequency workflows, from finding jobs and building careers to selling online, collaborating at work, and consuming entertainment. This shift toward agent-driven AI marks a more grounded and practical phase of AI adoption in India.

“India’s AI opportunity will not be defined by who builds the biggest models, but by who builds products that work at population scale,” said Rajan Anandan, Managing Director, Peak XV. “With over 900 million Indians online, the real opportunity lies in solving for real needs, helping people find jobs, grow income, and build businesses using AI. This focus on meeting the real needs of Indian users and building products at population scale is what will define India’s leadership in AI. The five companies we are backing reflect that shift, applying AI in ways that drive real outcomes for Indian consumers and enterprises.”

Across the five companies, AI agents are embedded into moments that matter. They help professionals evaluate career moves, enable sellers to grow income, support teams in thinking and execution, and create consumer experiences shaped by Indian language and culture. Rather than abstract capabilities, these products are designed for repeat use, trust, and long-term engagement.

The investments were announced at Impact AI PitchFest on 17 February 2026, where founders presented to investors, operators, and ecosystem leaders as part of the India AI Impact Summit.

About the Companies

Companion Labs is building interactive, entertainment-led AI experiences tailored for India’s vernacular, culturally diverse audiences. Founded by Akshay Jhanwar and Ajit Pol, the company enables users to explore alternate lives, careers, and aspirations through AI-powered narratives. Built from India for India, Companion Labs reflects a broader shift toward consumer AI experiences shaped by local language, culture, and storytelling.

Kello is building a career and hiring intelligence platform designed to improve how individuals and organisations evaluate talent and opportunity. The company analyses real-world capability signals to move beyond traditional proxies like pedigree or job titles, helping enterprises make better hiring decisions while enabling individuals to understand where they are most likely to succeed. As AI reshapes how work evolves, Kello is focused on bringing clarity to career navigation and workforce decisions. Kello has already mapped over 32 million professionals and is on track to map the next 100 million in 2026.

Memfold AI is building a new generation of AI-native workspaces designed to fundamentally change how knowledge work gets done. Founded by Vinod Ganesan and Nischith Shadagopan, former Microsoft Research researchers and founding members of Sarvam, Memfold is building from India for a global audience. Its flagship product, Almanac, unifies research and document creation in one place so AI agents can retain context, memory, and intent over time. By rethinking the workspace itself rather than layering chat onto legacy tools, Memfold reflects a broader shift toward productivity systems built for seamless human–AI collaboration.

Round1 is an AI-native recruitment platform built on the belief that hiring has become broken, optimised for process and filtering rather than for understanding people. Founded by Saumil Tripathi, Shreeyash Dharmadhikari, and Jainam Talsania, Round1 works with leading Indian startups and conducts over 500 AI-led interviews per day, achieving a 90 percent qualification rate from first to second interview. By using AI to evaluate candidates through structured conversations rather than résumé filters, Round1 is building a more merit-based hiring system where strong candidates are not overlooked, and high-growth companies hire faster.

Zoop is an AI-powered live commerce marketplace where offline businesses such as retailers, wholesalers, and brands sell directly to buyers through live video. Founded by Abhishek Nevatia, Sanchi Virmani, and Raghav Dalela, Zoop builds scalable AI agents around sellers’ existing ways of operating, from voice-based product cataloguing and personalised AI live coaching to social media, marketing, and operations agents. As live commerce emerges globally as a defining format of digital trade, Zoop is enabling millions of India’s offline businesses to participate fully, with AI making their businesses dramatically more productive while allowing them to operate in familiar ways.

From Tools to Responsibility

Together, the five investments highlight a broader shift underway in India’s AI ecosystem. As foundational models become widely available, differentiation is increasingly defined by how AI is applied, where it shows up, and whether users trust it with real decisions. Agentic AI is no longer about novelty. It is becoming infrastructure for careers, commerce, work, and everyday life.

Peak XV will partner closely with each company as they scale product, talent, and go-to-market efforts in the months ahead.