india-ai
(2)
Jio Haptik Bet That Cheap AI Beats Clever AI
The Mumbai-born conversational AI platform Reliance bought for $100 million now sells enterprise-grade AI agents to corner shops for 10,000 rupees. Here is how a decade-old chatbot company reinvented itself for the agentic era.
Avataar
Avataar is a Bengaluru- and San Francisco-based AI company that turns static product pages into 3D visuals, interactive experiences, and AI-generated videos for retailers and brands. Founded in 2014 by Sravanth Aluru and co-founders, it began with computer-vision-driven 3D product visualization for e-commerce and has since expanded into a full-stack agentic AI platform and its own distilled video model, Varya, positioned as a cheaper, culturally aware alternative to models like Veo and Runway. Backed by Tiger Global and Peak XV (formerly Sequoia Capital India), Avataar has raised roughly $55 million and counts HP, Victoria's Secret, Lowe's, and others among its customers.