New Elevation Capital thesis: The Next Wave of Consumer AI x India!
While the world debates AGI timelines, India's real AI opportunity lies elsewhere entirely.
ChatGPT's penetration in India stands at just 5% of digital consumers. Yet where it has penetrated, usage and retention metrics are phenomenal - signaling strong PMF once users start engaging.
Rather than following Western adoption patterns, we believe India will leapfrog into vertical AI applications that democratize access to expertise - whether in education, health, or commerce.
Some highlights:
- K-12 reimagination underway - traditional schooling unchanged for decades; AI-first models emerging with personalized learning, facilitator-led instruction
- Language learning achieving scale through vernacular localization - contextualized for Indian needs enabling fluency practice
- Test prep personalization unlocked - millions of exam-takers currently served only by offline coaching now getting adaptive study schedules and personalized curriculum
- Commerce getting reimagined - AI concierge services scaling by handling 80% of tasks (dry cleaning, car servicing) that were unscalable as people-services businesses
- Travel agencies reinvented - AI orchestrating end-to-end trip planning (flights, hotels, attractions, spouse alignment) for complex itineraries at accessible pricing
- Companionship addressing unseen pain - Rumik showing social-platform level engagement as users seek judgment-free space for taboo topics; ChatGPT viewed as "office app" while dedicated apps capture personal conversations
- Content shifting to co-creation - AI-generated reels going viral, movies launching on OTT; personalized interactive narratives (bedtime stories with child as protagonist) requiring new destinations beyond YouTube
- Key challenges: building for India-first use cases vs. copying Western models, over-indexing on consumer insights vs. technical sophistication, shipping fast with few hundred users for signal rather than extended stealth development
- Strategic opportunity - less crowded than expected with fewer teams building consumer AI versus early hyperlocal wave; timing favorable for category establishment through deep domain expertise and cultural localization
The future vision: an AI tutor, trainer, stylist, and companion in every Indian's pocket - not as a distant possibility, but as the next wave of consumer platform innovation already underway.