Artificial Intelligence has become an important part of our daily lives. Startups are now leveraging AI to streamline operations, enhance customer experiences, and drive efficiency. However, the debate over ethical AI use and the fear of AI replacing human jobs continues. Despite this, several startups are pushing the boundaries of AI, using it in unique ways tailored to their respective industries. Here’s a look at such startups making a difference with AI-driven innovations.
1. Healthians
Healthians, founded by serial entrepreneur Deepak Sahni, is a trusted name in diagnostic testing in India. Operating in over 250 cities with a network of 22+ certified laboratories, the company ensures accessible healthcare. Healthians is investing heavily in AI and has developed several features which are industry firsts. For example, they have launched Video Analysis Feature which is designed to help users better understand the key parameters in their test reports and their significance, along with offering personalized recommendations. Healthians is the first in the industry to introduce such an innovation. Additionally, Healthians has launched WelliO, an AI-powered personal health chatbot that answers users’ health-related queries, enhancing accessibility and patient engagement. These advancements position Healthians as a pioneer in AI-integrated diagnostics.
2. Ikonz Studios
Ikonz Studios is a pioneer in hyper-realistic AI-powered digital avatars and holographic experiences. Ikonz specializes in hyper-realistic, multilingual digital avatars and holographic technology. By leveraging generative AI, Ikonz is transforming the way people engage with digital content, bringing iconic personalities to life through interactive and intelligent digital experiences. One of its most notable projects is the AI-powered digital avatar of Amitabh Bachchan, launched in partnership with IDFC FIRST Bank. Founder Abinav, with a background in tech and finance, aims to integrate AI-powered digital assistants across banking, healthcare, education, and entertainment. The startup is backed by Village Global, which counts Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, and Jeff Bezos among its supporters.
3. Ola Krutrim
Founded by serial entrepreneur Bhavish Aggarwal, also the co-founder of Ola, developed Ola Krutrim in just 7 to 8 months with financial backing from close networks. Ola Krutrim became the first AI unicorn in January 2024 after raising $50 million, bringing its total funding to $74 million. Focused on delivering advanced AI solutions specifically for the Indian market, the company is developing India-specific large language models (LLMs) capable of working with 10 Indian languages. Competing with other industry players, Ola Krutrim distinguishes itself through its focus on creating “AI for India,” with a mission to craft AI models that understand and express Indian cultural nuances. The company has recently partnered with Lenovo to establish a 700-billion parameter based model ‘Ola Krutrim 3’.
4. Razorpay
Razorpay, one of India’s leading fintech unicorns, is leveraging AI to enhance financial services. The company recently launched RAY, an AI chatbot for payments and payroll management, offering seamless solutions to ecommerce companies through voice and text commands in multiple languages. Additionally, Razorpay introduced Engage, a full-stack intelligent marketing growth suite designed to help businesses acquire and retain customers with AI-powered personalization. Other AI-driven innovations include FraudShield, aimed at reducing chargebacks and safeguarding businesses from fraud, and AI-Powered RTO Suite, designed to mitigate return-to-origin losses. The company is aggressively expanding its AI offerings, making payments and financial management smarter and more efficient.
5. MakeMyTrip
MakeMyTrip, India’s leading online travel company is also leveraging the powers of AI to server it’s users in the best way possible. They have introduced ‘Collections’, an AI-powered feature that personalizes hotel and homestay discovery. By analyzing traveler insights, search history, and booking patterns, the AI curates accommodations into themed collections, helping users navigate over 86,000 options across 2,000+ cities. The feature continuously learns from user interactions, refining recommendations to enhance traveler experiences. Currently live in 30+ leisure and pilgrimage destinations, it is expanding rapidly to cater to a wider audience.
6. Fenado AI
Founded in 2024, Fenado AI enables users with zero coding expertise to build apps and websites in minutes. The platform is designed for startups, small businesses, and larger organizations, providing end-to-end tech solutions. Fenado AI has already onboarded over 200 global paying customers and aims to reach 10,000 by 2025. Fenado Ai is founded by the Shark Tank India Judge Azhar Iqubal who is also the Founder of India’s famous news app Inshorts. The platform is focused on underserved regions, making it accessible for entrepreneurs across tier-2 and tier-3 cities. It provides scalability and continuous AI-driven support, helping businesses build digital products without the need for dedicated tech teams.
7. LimeChat
LimeChat, founded in 2020 amid a pandemic-driven e-commerce boom in India, delivers personalized and engaging conversational experiences on platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. Through its AI-powered automated conversational commerce platform, LimeChat helps brands replicate a store-like buying experience, boosting conversion rates by up to 10x. Serving over 300 brands, including HUL, ITC, Mamaearth, and Wow Skin Science, LimeChat specializes in the fashion, beauty, health, and wellness verticals. Backed by Stellaris Venture Partners, Google, and IFC, the startup has raised $5 million to date, including $750,000 in a seed round led by Pi Ventures. Competing with Noogata, TUNGEE, and Slang Labs, LimeChat enables instant customer query responses across WhatsApp, Meta Messenger, and Instagram, solidifying its position as a leader in conversational commerce.
8. Beatoven.AI
Beatoven.ai is co-founded by Mansoor Rahimat Khan, a seventh-generation sitar player of the Dharwad Gharana, and Siddharth Bhardwaj. The app uses generative AI to create original, royalty-free music for video, podcast, and gaming content creators. The platform uses open-source large language models (LLMs) to generate mood-based music by analyzing key elements like genre, mode, and duration. With close to 1 million users globally, primarily outside India, Beatoven.ai is revolutionizing music creation. The startup has raised over $2.4 million from investors like Capital2B (Info Edge), IvyCap Ventures, and Upsparks Capital. It aims to reach 5 million users and achieve a 10x increase in annual recurring revenue (ARR) in the next two years. Backed by a diverse team of musicians, technologists, designers, and writers, Beatoven.ai is making music creation accessible and intuitive for creators worldwide.