AI firm raises $1.1m to help companies create more trustworthy AI apps

(From left) Inspeq AI co-founder Ramanujam Macharla Vijayakumar, and founder and CEO Apporva Kumar / Photo credit: Inspeq AI

As companies determine how to integrate AI into their operations, SaaS startups have sprung up to address the emerging back-end needs of these firms.

Inspeq AI is one such startup. Founded in 2023 by Apoorva Kumar and Ramanujam Macharla Vijayakumar, the Ireland- and India-based firm operates a full-stack large language model (LLM) platform that allows its users to speed up generative AI app development.

Inspeq AI does so through its own AI and machine learning models, which the company said enhance the trustworthiness and reliability of AI applications developed through its platform.

The platform can, for example, help companies handle security risks and AI hallucination issues. Inspeq AI said it already counts Indian IT consulting company HCL as one of its clients.

Now, Inspeq AI has secured around US$1.1 million in a pre-series A funding round led by Sure Valley Ventures with additional capital from Delta Partners and Plug and Play. Pocket FM founder Prateek Dixit and BlueStone founder Gaurav Singh Kushwaha also pitched in.

The fresh funds will be used to expand Inspeq AI’s product development team, as well as to boost its marketing and sales efforts in India, Ireland, and the UK.

“This investment will greatly accelerate Inspeq AI’s growth trajectory as we work towards advancing AI safety and performance on a global scale,” said Kumar, who also serves as CEO of Inspeq AI.

The startup is a recent graduate of the Founders accelerator program of Dogpatch Labs, which is funded by the Irish government.

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