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AI-Driven Capital Trends at ET Soonicorns Summit 2025

TL;DR: The ET Soonicorns Summit 2025 in Bengaluru brings together VCs, CFOs, founders, and industry leaders to dissect the impact of AI on India’s startup capital spectrum. The event dives into how AI is reshaping investment trends, capital efficiency, and scaling strategies—from early VC bets to the nuances of IPO readiness and lessons from real unicorn journeys.

The Rise of AI as an Investment Catalyst

Artificial Intelligence has evolved from being a mere buzzword in tech circles to a fundamental driver in the investment and startup ecosystem, especially in India. This seismic shift was at the core of discussions at the ET Soonicorns Summit 2025 held in Bengaluru—a gathering primed to dissect the “AI-fuelled capital spectrum” that is making and breaking startups in India.

“We have created a map of everything IT services companies do and view each line of business as an opportunity for a new AI-native company.” This revelation from a leading VC sets the tone for India’s current startup wave, where not only local but also foreign investors like SoftBank are pursuing AI-led ventures in IT and BPO transformation.

Despite the challenges—a 32% drop in funding activity year-over-year—the relentless focus on AI means that founders, VCs, and policymakers alike are looking for new blueprints to leverage technology and capitalise on the turbulence in funding. Why is this happening and what’s next for India’s AI-fuelled startups?

Summit Overview: From Research Labs to Revenue

The ET Soonicorns Summit 2025 positioned itself as more than a conference—it was a roadmap for the next decade of Indian entrepreneurship. With the key theme, “From Research Labs to Revenue Models: The Billion-Dollar Blueprint for Scaling Indian AI Startups,” the summit assembled 50+ speakers to answer pressing questions about:

• How AI is redefining venture capital strategies
• The difference between AI-native and AI-enabled businesses
• What capital efficiency means in today’s global market
• What it takes to scale and IPO in a high-stakes environment

The event was flagged off with a keynote by the Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, who also unveiled a landmark report—Economic Times Top Soonicorns and Minicorns of Karnataka 2025 | Priority Sectors—in collaboration with research partner Tracxn, setting the evidence-based stage for the conversations that followed.

AI Investments: Separating Hype from Reality

In 2025, every startup wants to add “AI-driven” to its pitch deck. But at the Soonicorns Summit, the critical question was: Are investors and founders chasing AI hype, or is there genuine disruption and scalability in play?

• AI-Native vs. AI-Enabled: Distinguished VCs including Rutvik Doshi (Athera Venture Partners), Manav Garg (Together Fund), Manish Singhal (pi Ventures), and Sanjay Swamy (Prime Venture Partners) emphasized the need to define and prioritize true AI-native models—companies building from an AI foundation—over those simply bolting on ML features.
• Global GenAI Race: Panellists agreed: India has to look beyond local problems and think about global competitiveness if it wants to be a leader in generative AI innovation.

Early Bets & Growth Levers: The Emerging Funding Landscape

Another highlight was the conversation on “AI as a Catalyst: Early Bets & Growth Levers.” With funding becoming more selective, discussions led by Harshjit Sethi (Peak XV Partners) and Ritesh Banglani (Stellaris Venture Partners) revealed:

• VCs are now more rigorous in identifying high-potential, defensible moats in AI startups—favoring those with strong technical depth and forward-thinking go-to-market vision.
• Founders are encouraged to focus not just on AI development but on integration with customers’ core needs and seamless deployment at scale.

Takeaway: The capital market for AI in India may be tight, but smart money is still aggressively on the hunt for authentic products solving real, high-value problems.

The Billion-Dollar Blueprint: Scaling for Global Competitiveness

Innovation alone isn’t enough. This refrain rang throughout the “Billion Dollar AI Blueprint” session. Scaling from seed to unicorn now requires far more than a first-mover advantage—what’s needed is a bulletproof playbook for operational excellence, global market entry, and long-term value creation.

• Panelists: With voices from every corner—Abhishek Nag (360 ONE), Shally Modi (Pratilipi), Manish Gupta (Google DeepMind), Raghunandan G (Zolve), Arnab Kumar (Uber India)—the focus was on how leaders can lay down sustainable growth engines.
• Execution: Small teams with a focus on capital allocation, relentless cost discipline, and customer-centric innovation were highlighted as keys to long-term growth.

Bottom Line: Without a robust scaling formula, even the most innovative AI companies risk stagnation in the hyper-competitive global market.

Ambition & Capital Efficiency: The ‘New Normal’

The new mantra post-2024: Global ambition must be balanced with unprecedented capital efficiency. With supply chain volatility, regulatory flux, and often unpredictable flows of global capital, Indian startups are now required to stretch every rupee and justify every line item.

• Panel: Reeju Datta (Cashfree Payments), Pawan Danwar (HCL Corporation), and Anurag Jain (KredEx) led the discussion on the imperative of making capital count—urging founders to “do more with less,” but without throttling innovation.
• Strategic Allocation: Smarter fundraising, performance-based resource allocation, and scenario planning are now fundamental to a startup’s survival and growth.

IPO Readiness: The New CFO Playbook

For startups targeting IPOs, the old formula of hypergrowth-at-all-costs has expired. The summit addressed “From Pre-IPO to Bell Ringing: The CFO Playbook for 2025’s High-Stakes Market.”

• Key Insights: Panelists Arpit Chug (Razorpay) and Sohil Parekh (Ather Energy) broke down the myths around IPO readiness. They emphasized:
• Building new financial disciplines and transparency early in the life cycle
• Balancing aggressive targets with conservative guidance to meet public market expectations
• Clear communication of business fundamentals and unit economics to new public investors

Their consensus: The Indian IPO landscape is evolving quickly and demands startups practice “public discipline” from day one—not just when they file their DRHP.

Real Unicorn Stories: Actionable Inspiration for Founders

To top off the event, founders Abhay Hanjura and Vivek Gupta of Licious—India’s first scaled D2C meat unicorn—shared their journey from navigating India’s fragmented meat market in 2015 to unicorn status. They unpacked:

• How they reimagined a traditional industry with AI-powered logistics, supply chain management, and a relentless focus on consumer experience
• The critical role of capital discipline in their expansion and achieving operational profitability at scale
• Takeaways for D2C and category-disrupting entrepreneurs in India and beyond

Partnerships Powering the Ecosystem

The Soonicorns Summit 2025 was not just about speakers but also the ecosystem’s collective effort:

• Presented by: 360 ONE
• Ecosystem Partner: Shiv Nadar University
• Wardrobe Partner: Raymond
• Gold Partner: Pi42
• Banking Partner: Bank of India
• Knowledge Partner: Tracxn
• State Partner: K-Tech Startup Karnataka
• Gifting Partners: The Mind & Company, Plum, Clinikally, EM5, and True Elements

Key Takeaways for Startups & Investors

• AI is no longer a buzzword, but the organizing logic of Indian startup investment and operation.
• Capital efficiency—doing more with less—will differentiate long-term winners from quick-flame unicorns.
• The future belongs to startups that build for global markets with a blend of technical depth, disciplined execution, and authentic customer insight.
• IPO and public market readiness means new financial discipline must begin early in a startup’s life cycle.
• Real inspiration comes from those who redefine the rules of legacy markets, powered by data and AI-enabled operations.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why is AI such a strong driver of capital trends in Indian startups right now?

AI enables startups to create scalable solutions, automate processes, and enter new markets, making them attractive to investors looking for high-growth and defensible business models. The global race for AI dominance means that capital is funneled towards startups with cutting-edge technology and global ambitions.

2. What does “capital efficiency” mean for startups in 2025?

Capital efficiency is about using every rupee wisely to generate sustainable growth—aligning spend with strategic objectives, minimizing waste, and focusing on measurable outcomes instead of vanity metrics. Startups that master it will weather funding droughts and scale effectively.

3. How can startups prepare for a successful IPO in the evolving Indian market?

Startups should prioritize financial discipline, invest early in compliance and transparency, and ensure their business fundamentals—like unit economics and margins—are attractive to public investors. Building a consistent narrative and “practicing being public” before going public is now essential.

Conclusion:
AI is fundamentally reshaping the Indian startup landscape, not just in how companies are built, but in how they are funded, scaled, and sustained. The ET Soonicorns Summit 2025 spotlighted that in this new era, only the truly innovative, disciplined, and AI-empowered will thrive. Both founders and investors must embrace these trends—or risk being left behind.

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