India's wealthiest families have found a new favored asset class—and it is neither real estate nor gold, but artificial intelligence, specifically technology built at home.

According to a Bloomberg report published on October 16, 2026, India's billionaire family offices are pouring money into local AI startups. The goal is to give India a stronger position in a global AI race currently dominated by American and Chinese firms. Family offices—private investment vehicles that manage a single family's wealth—are the entities behind that push.

The scoreboard so far: at least six Indian AI startups have crossed into unicorn territory, meaning valuations above $1 billion. Bloomberg tied that growth to rising adoption of AI tools by Indian consumers and businesses alike.

Who Is Writing the Checks

Two names keep appearing on cap tables: Premji Invest and Claypond Capital. Both have been putting substantial sums to work across a range of AI ventures this year.

Premji Invest led a $27 million funding round for Pramaana Labs in June 2026. Claypond Capital, meanwhile, has been active on two fronts. It joined Emergent's $130 million round in July 2026, and two months later it took part in Flam's $40 million raise in September.

The deals point to a broader shift in how these investors think about time. Family offices are offering what the industry calls "patient capital"—capital committed over longer horizons than a standard venture fund cycle—pitching it as a fit for AI, enterprise software, and related technologies, where returns typically build over years rather than quarters.

Bloomberg reported that investment activity sharply accelerated in 2026. Micromax, an Indian smartphone and consumer electronics maker, launched a ₹250 crore family office in August 2026—roughly $30 million. The vehicle targets early-stage AI and semiconductor startups, with initial check sizes of ₹10–20 crore—a mandate that spans both the software and hardware layers of the AI stack.

Catamaran Ventures, the firm founded by Narayana Murthy, the co-founder of IT services giant Infosys, has also signaled where it is heading. The firm indicated plans to double its focus on India within five years, with a particular emphasis on enterprise AI solutions—software sold to business customers, a segment whose longer sales cycles pair naturally with patient capital.

From 45 Family Offices to More Than 300

India had 45 family offices in 2018. By 2024/2025, that number had grown to more than 300. Those offices collectively manage between $30 billion and $35 billion in assets.

Investments by single family offices in deeptech climbed from $15.3 million in 2020 to $467.1 million in 2025—a roughly 30-fold increase in five years. With more than 300 offices overseeing $30–35 billion in combined assets, even a modest percentage shift in allocation represents a substantial pool of capital for a young sector. The next markers are already defined by the investors themselves: Catamaran's five-year doubling of its India focus, the first deployments from Micromax's newly launched vehicle, and an Indian AI unicorn tally that currently stands at six or more.

Source: CryptoBriefing