This trend highlights a shift towards building AI ventures in the perceived epicentre of the technology.This trend highlights a shift towards building AI ventures in the perceived epicentre of the technology.More than 100 Indian AI founders have moved or are preparing to move to the US, drawn by closer access to customers, capital and the most advanced artificial intelligence ecosystems, despite talk of a reverse brain drain.
Composio, Meetstream.ai, Smallest.ai, Beatoven.ai and GetCrux are among startups that have moved base to the US over the past couple of years, while several others are in the process of relocating, investors and founders told ET.
Some founders spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing tougher US immigration policy under the Donald Trump administration, even as many tech professionals are reportedly returning to India from the US.
With AI becoming a key theme, founders – particularly those catering to larger enterprises – are choosing to build in the US, their largest customer base, that also boasts of AI talents and investors with risk appetite.
AI effect
“The biggest factor is the speed at which things move in the US, which in turn results in faster growth and decision making from investors and customers,” said Sidhdharth Sivasubramanian, cofounder of Meetstream.ai, who is moving to the US this week.He said 100 is a conservative number, adding that at least 20-30 founders from his own circles have moved to the US in the past year.
Meetstream.ai offers API and infrastructure for meeting agents.
A large majority of founders, including Sivasubramanian, are heading to the San Francisco Bay area, which is considered the centre of the AI universe.
Mansoor Rahimat Khan, cofounder of Beatoven.ai, who moved to the US in 2024, said that when you are building in AI, it is important to be close to the ecosystem and density of talent. “Right now, that is the US,” he said.
Nitin Sharma, partner at AI investor Antler India, calls it a “perceived epicentre effect.”
In Antler’s AI Residency with 26 startups, about 40 per cent of the nearly 50 founders want to spend a significant portion of time in the Bay Area after the first round of funding, with plans for at least one of the cofounders to move and build in the US. “In the past, this may have been true only for 5-10 per cent of founders, and they would have considered it after 1-2 years of building the product in India,” Sharma said.
Mohamad Faraz, cofounder and managing partner of Upsparks Capital, pointed out that companies in the US have better appetite for AI adoption and willingness to pay, adding that founders of five of his portfolio companies moved to San Francisco in the past year.
“For some of the companies, fundraising was difficult in India,” Faraz said. “Moving to the US not only helped with the fundraise but also helped them hire top quality talent for research work.”
Other investors confirmed the trend.
Sanjay Nath, cofounder of Blume Ventures, said almost a dozen of their SaaS/AI companies and founders have shifted their base to the US, leveraging the AI wave. Krishna Mehra, AI partner at Elevation Capital, said four of their companies and founders have moved to the US in the past year.
Siddhartha Ahluwalia, managing partner at Neon Fund, said close to 20 founders across 10 startups have moved to San Francisco in the past year.
Unlike earlier, most AI startups have learner teams, making it easier to move to San Francisco since you don’t need a bigger office, Ahluwalia explained. “In addition, the enterprise market is dynamic, and clients prefer the founders to be in the US,” he added.
There are several WhatsApp communities that are helping founders with visa and immigration processes as they move to the US.
In one of the groups that ET reviewed, there were more than 150 members. “There are multiple such groups, but I had left them since I got my O-1,” a founder told ET on the condition of anonymity.
But there are challenges.
While it is important for startups to move to the US, it might not be an easy option under the current US immigration regime, investors told ET. There is a lot more uncertainty around moving to the US, given the longer time it takes to get the visa, they said.
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