Peak XV Partners in Advanced Talks to Back Six Indian AI Startups, Including $20 Million for Empirical Machines

Peak XV Partners, Lightspeed, General Catalyst, Activate, Stellaris Venture Partners and Blume are in advanced stages of investing in at least half a dozen Indian AI startups, Business News Today reported. Peak XV is in advanced stages of investing $8-10 million in former Zomato chief operating officer Rinshul Chandra's new AI startup, alongside Lightspeed and Blume VC.

Peak XV's Three AI Bets

Peak XV Partners is in advanced stages of investing in at least three AI startups, including Erid Bio, Spark Labs and Chandra's new venture. Chandra is building AI agents focused largely on the merchant side of transactions, while also catering to consumers, according to people aware of the company's plans. The startup is taking a somewhat different approach from the growing crop of AI concierge products aimed primarily at consumers.

Peak XV is also investing $20 million in Empirical Machines, the startup of an ex-OpenAI researcher, along with Mettle Capital, a VC fund started by its former partners, Business News Today reported earlier in October. More recently, Peak XV and Blume also invested in Dunzo founder Kabeer Biswas' AI startup.

Peak XV is in talks to invest around $4-6 million in Spark Labs, along with other investors. Peak XV, along with General Catalyst, is in advanced stages of investing around $3 million in Erid Bio, which uses AI and advanced laboratory technology to design and test new biological molecules. "Erid is being valued at around $30 million during ongoing talks with investors," a source told Business News Today.

Activate's Two Deals

Activate, the $105 million venture capital fund founded by Aakrit Vaish and Pratyush Choudhury, is in advanced stages of investing in two AI startups: Blackbird and Pathnovo. The two companies are looking to raise around $4 million each, people aware of the developments said. In Blackbird, Activate is expected to invest alongside Stellaris Venture Partners. For Pathnovo, an AI-native SaaS and engineering software company that builds agentic workflows and automation solutions, Activate is likely to team up with other investors.

Peak XV's Surge Restructuring

Peak XV Partners restructured its Surge seed-investing platform in June 2026, cutting seed allocation from $300 million to about $225 million and raising the maximum per-company cheque from $3 million to $5 million, according to akta.pro company records. The firm operates multi-stage funds including the Surge seed program, plus separate venture and growth funds. Peak XV participated in Sarvam AI's $234 million Series B first close at a $1.5 billion post-money valuation, becoming India's newest AI unicorn.

Peak XV's Recent AI Investments

In September 2026, healthcare AI startup Arintra raised $21 million in a Series A round led by Peak XV Partners, The Economic Times reported. The company's platform automatically codes patient charts in EHRs, and it claims to have processed over $1 billion in charges. Also in September 2026, AI-focused sales enablement platform WizCommerce raised $8 million led by Peak XV Partners, with Blume Ventures, Z47 and Alpha Wave participating, The Economic Times reported. The platform reports $200 million annualized GMV and plans to expand US operations and launch AI employees.