India’s richest families have found a new favorite asset class, and it isn’t real estate or gold. It’s artificial intelligence, specifically the kind built at home.
Bloomberg reported on October 16, 2026, that the country’s billionaire family offices are pouring money into local AI startups. The goal is to give India a stronger position in a global AI contest currently dominated by American and Chinese firms.
The scoreboard so far: at least six Indian AI startups have crossed into unicorn territory, meaning valuations above $1 billion. Bloomberg tied that growth to rising adoption of AI tools by Indian consumers and businesses alike.
Who is writing the checks
Two names keep showing up on the cap tables: Premji Invest and Claypond Capital. Both have been putting substantial sums to work across a range of AI ventures this year.
Premji Invest led a $27 million round for Pramaana Labs in June 2026. Claypond Capital, meanwhile, has been busy on two fronts.
It joined Emergent’s $130 million round in July 2026. Two months later, it took part in Flam’s $40 million raise in September.
Those deals point to a broader shift in how these investors think about time. Family offices are offering what the industry calls patient capital, and they are pitching it as a fit for AI, enterprise software and related technologies.
Bloomberg reported that this investment activity sharply accelerated in 2026.
Micromax launched a ₹250 crore family office in August 2026, roughly $30 million. The vehicle targets early-stage AI and semiconductor startups, with initial check sizes of ₹10-20 crore.
Narayana Murthy’s Catamaran Ventures has also signaled where it is heading. The firm indicated plans to double its focus on India within five years, with a particular emphasis on enterprise AI solutions.
From 45 family offices to more than 300
The country had 45 family offices in 2018. By 2024/2025, that number had grown to more than 300.
Those offices collectively manage between $30 billion and $35 billion in assets.
Investments by single family offices in deeptech went from $15.3 million in 2020 to $467.1 million in 2025.
That is roughly a 30-fold increase in five years.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Diego Almada Lopez. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.