Meet 7 of India’s AI pioneers

It seems never long before Ratan Tata, ex-chairman of Tata Sons, finds his way into startup headlines, and we got a two-for-one this week when two of his investments were announced within days of each other. One, announced just yesterday, was in Niki, an artificial intelligence-powered chatbot that allows users to request a number of services, including cab and food ordering as well as phone credit top-ups, among other things.

Where exactly is AI working in the startup scene, and what does it do for you?

Ratan’s investment in Niki came hours after Google revealed Home, an AI-poweredm voice-activated speaker that can play music, answer questions, and manage daily tasks while sitting on your coffee table or kitchen counter. It’s like the Amazon Echo, which has been on the market for about a year.

The hype is real when it comes to AI tech. But AI is not specific to any one category. AI is already present within a number of industries in India, which means that its uses are diverse – from helping with medical diagnoses to figuring out what kind of yoga mat you want to purchase. Where exactly is AI working in the startup scene, and what does it do for you? Here’s a list of a handful of the AI startups in the country and how they can help you.

Arya

Area of expertise: research

Founded in 2013, Mumbai-based Arya.ai began as a research assistant tool for researchers who wanted to save time in their background reading. It’s meant to take care of all of the background thinking tasks like reading and compiling, and replaces that with a database filled with all the information you want to use. Then, you can just ask Arya about the information or more abstract questions dealing with where to take your project next.

The AI focused on enterprises but has opened a beta version of the software to a dozen developers in the UK, US, and France. It plans to open to developers in India soon.

Founders Vinay Kumar Sankarapu and Deekshith Marla have both recently made the Forbes 30 under 30 Asia list in the consumer technology category. The startup’s team has research experience specifically in biotechnology, finance, and computing.

The startup is a graduate of angel startup accelerator Venture Nursery’s season four class. It was also a finalist in Paris&Co’s international startup competition. In June last year, it made the top four in Silicon Valley Forum’s list of next generation technology start-ups. In December last year, it raised a US$750,000 pre-series A round from Your Next Angel Fund and existing investor Venture Nursery.

Dunzo

Area of expertise: ordering everyday services

Niki

SeeDoc

Senseforth

vPhrase

Vue