Week after Sarvam, Naukri founder’s AI startup investments double in value

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Mumbai: Amid rising calls to build sovereign AI models and applications in India, Naukri founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani on Monday said in a letter to shareholders that his investments in homegrown AI startups have more than doubled in value over the past six years—just a week after the country saw its first pure-play AI startup hit unicorn status.

Info Edge (India) Ltd, which runs job-hunting platform Naukri, said it has deployed ₹614 crore across 28 AI startups since 2020, and now values the portfolio at ₹1,268 crore—more than doubling the value of its AI investments. Bikhchandani, through his subsidiary investment and holding arms, invested a further ₹455 crore in deep-tech startups, which he now valued at ₹559 crore.

The investor’s update to shareholders comes a year after a May 2025 letter to shareholders in which he highlighted that nearly 40% of Info Edge's market cap is driven by investments in homegrown tech and consumer startups, with the rest driven by Naukri. Notably, Bikhchandani was an early backer of the financial aggregator Policybazaar in 2008 and the food aggregator Zomato in 2010.

The two are among 45 consumer-facing startups he invested ₹2,755 crore in. As of 31 March, his investments—largely funded by Policybazaar and Zomato shareholdings—were valued at ₹37,214 crore.

“Over time, it has become evident to us that three themes now constitute a significant majority of our investing activity and, we believe, will define much of the value creation in the decade ahead: Artificial Intelligence, deeptech and consumer technology,” Bikhchandani said.

While he admitted that the current valuations are “intermediate markups derived from fair market values and the real test of this portfolio lies in the years ahead,” the investor sounded bullish about the immediate future. “We typically revise the value of an investment upwards from cost only when an external investor has come in at a higher valuation or when an external valuer determines that the company's performance merits an upward revision. We revise the valuation downwards if a business lags its projections or raises funding at a lower valuation. That said, 26 of these 54 companies have already raised externally led follow-on rounds, giving them both the capital and further institutional backing needed to continue executing on their plans.”

Info Edge's AI portfolio includes voice AI startupGnani.ai, which was selected under the Ministry of Electronics and IT (Meity)’s IndiaAI Mission to build a sovereign voice AI model. The startup received ₹177 crore in grants to access AI processors.

“Our ambition is to invest in early-stage companies that go on to become great,” Bhikchandani added, stating that AI startups today “should change the landscape of an industry while creating new categories and markets—IRRs (internal rates of returns) are a happy incidental outcome of this effort and not the main objective.”

The founder’s note comes as India saw its first sovereign AI unicorn in Sarvam, which raised $234 million last week, backed by HCLTech, Khosla Ventures and Peak XV Partners—underscoring growing investor appetite for homegrown AI startups building indigenous AI models and applications.

Sriram Viswanathan, founding managing partner at US-based investment firm Celesta Capital and an early backer of drone startup IdeaForge, expressed similar optimism in an interview with Mint, stating India's deep-tech startups are likely to attract higher capital flows over the next 12 months as the ecosystem matures.

Brokerage Bernstein, in a note to investors on Monday, warned that India risks becoming dependent on foreign AI systems unless it builds its own large language models (LLMs), comparing AI to strategic assets such as ‘fighter jets’ that could be subject to export controls.

“India's core intelligence layer, from enterprise software to defence and space, could be powered by foreign LLMs. Enter a geopolitical disruption, and that access could be curtailed overnight,” the Bernstein report said.

The developments come as India ramps up efforts to build domestic AI capabilities through the ₹10,300-crore IndiaAI Mission, a government programme launched in 2024 to expand access to computing infrastructure and support the development of homegrown AI models. The initiative has backed several startups, including Sarvam and voice AI firmGnani.ai, as investment activity in the sector gathers pace.

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