Equal AI pivots from enterprise KYC to consumer AI after its $30 Mn Series B. The startup now serves 1 Mn monthly active users on its call assistant and plans to enter shopping, finance, and lifestyle verticals.
Equal AI, a Hyderabad-based startup that began as a B2B identity verification platform, has raised $30 Mn in a Series B round co-led by existing backers Prosus Ventures and Tomales Bay Capital. The round also included PhonePe founder Sameer Nigam, Zubin Bharti Mittal from the Airtel Family Office, Skyflow AI cofounder Anshu Sharma, Meta India VP Sandhya Devanathan, and CtrlS Datacenters chairman Sridhar Pinnapureddy. Think Investments and Valiant Fund also participated.
The company plans to use the capital to push beyond call management into shopping, financial services, communications, and lifestyle use cases. Its stated ambition is to become "India's AI Assistant" – a single intelligent layer on smartphones that handles calls, transactions, and daily tasks.
Equal AI was founded in 2022 by Keshav Reddy and former Swiggy executive Rajeev Ranjan. It started as an identity verification aggregator, helping banks, lenders, and telecoms automate KYC processes. That enterprise business now serves more than 350 customers.
In October 2025, the company pivoted into consumer AI by launching an AI call assistant that answers unknown calls on the user's behalf. The agent speaks with callers using conversational AI, determines the purpose of the call, and delivers a live transcript, summary, and recording to the user. On the consumer side, the startup claims 1 Mn monthly active users and 350,000 daily active users across India.
From B2B verification to consumer AI
The shift from enterprise identity to consumer voice AI looks like a strategic bet on the growing market for AI agents that simplify everyday digital tasks. The company is entering a crowded but fast-growing space. GenAI startup Gnani.ai raised $10 Mn earlier this year to offer B2B agentic AI solutions built on its speech-to-text model Vachana STT. Sarvam AI, another Indian AI firm, is in talks to raise fresh capital at a unicorn valuation and plans to open its voice AI agent platform Sarvam Samvaad to the general public.
Equal AI's edge, according to the company, is its head start in both enterprise compliance and consumer traction. The enterprise KYC business gave it experience handling regulated industries. The consumer call assistant now gives it a beachhead on users' phones.
Prior to this round, Equal AI raised $10 Mn in a Series A when it was still purely enterprise-focused. The new funding will accelerate the consumer push and likely fund product development for shopping, payments, and lifestyle features – areas where voice AI could replace app navigation.
The broader market opportunity is large. India's AI market is projected to reach $126 Bn by 2030, with some estimates suggesting a $1.7 Tn contribution to GDP by 2035. Investors are betting that voice – especially in a mobile-first market with high English and vernacular usage – will be the primary interface for that growth.
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